Tip shuts down illegal trading by Orion Advisory Services and IS Markets
Earlier this year, our enforcement division received an anonymous tip that Orion Advisory Services and IntelliSource Markets B.V. (aka IS Markets) were targeting Canadian and UK investors, eight of whom lived in BC.
We were able to contact five of the eight BC residents. All said they had been cold called to invest in Orion. Three opened trading accounts with IS Markets, sending thousands to a Dutch bank for the purpose of trading gold options. All three lost their money and, as our investigators unraveled the story, it became clear that others had as well.
Orion claimed to be a securities trading business specializing in options on precious metals, oil, and foreign currency, with offices in Cancun, Mexico, Barcelona, Spain, and Panama City. Orion presented IS Markets as a financial institution in Amsterdam that held accounts for Orion investors. Neither company was registered to sell securities in BC.
People often hesitate to report that they have been defrauded, or that someone is trying to pressure them into an investment. Thanks to the tips we received in this case, our investigators gathered enough information to put Orion and IS Markets on the BCSC Investment Caution List 
and bring their activities to a BCSC hearing. Last week, the hearing panel ordered both companies to cease trading securities and exchange contracts and banned them from investor relations activities in our province.
As I wrote in a post about boiler rooms last year, if you’ve attended a fund-raising lunch, or walked on a fairground midway, then you know that once you start listening to somebody’s pitch, your hand is already on your wallet.
The first step to protecting yourself from an operation like Orion is to hang up the phone. If you don’t hang up, step two is to ask questions: if you don’t get answers, hang up. Step three: report.
You may think that nothing will come of your report, or there’s nothing to gain if you, or someone you know, has already lost money. But that’s far from the truth. As the anonymous tip about Orion and IS Markets shows, these operations can be stopped. And you can help.
Read previous posts on this and other topics.
Posted by Brenda Lea at 6/21/2010 3:00:00 PM
There are 4 comments:
Thank you for your comment Gord. We suggest anyone who gets unsolicited calls regarding investments do the same thing you did – do not fall for pressure tactics and ask questions. In your case, it seems like your questions about registration caused this person to move on. We also suggest that anyone who receives these types of calls should report them to a securities regulator immediately. In this case, you would report to the Alberta Securities Commission because you live in Edmonton.
Posted by: Ken at 7/29/2010 1:50:43 PM
I am from Edmonton. I was cold called a number of times in late 2008 and early 2009. I began to recognize the voice and tone. Always pressure to invest in gold or silver. On Feb 23 2009 I got a call and got the usual pressure and started to ask questions. The guy said his name was Tony Luna from Cancun Mexico with Orion Advisory. I got his phone number. When I asked for his broker's license or registration in Canada he said let's talk about the investment first. I said no, I didn't want to talk to him unless he was qualified and he said "loser" and hung up. Have not heard from him again. Glad to see they are being shut down.
Posted by: Gord at 7/27/2010 4:19:15 PM
Thanks for your question, Christine. It's very hard to tell who is behind schemes like these because the key people hide at the end of a boiler room phone line or hang out in cyberspace. In this case, regulators received a tip from the public, which allowed the BCSC to pursue an enforcement action. Orion and IS Markets are now listed on Canada's national Cease Trade Order database* and the BCSC Investment Caution List**. If you have any information about either company, please contact the BCSC at 604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393.
* http://www.securities-administrators.ca/cease_trade.aspx?id=171&linkidentifier=id&itemid=171
** http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/caution.aspx
Posted by: Brenda Lea at 7/6/2010 4:21:32 PM
Who were the people involved in this?
Posted by: Christine at 7/3/2010 10:19:24 AM
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