The August Enforcement Roundup highlights three enforcement actions taken by the BC Securities Commission (BCSC). There are also 17 new additions to the Investment Caution List.
BCSC Enforcement
BCSC Settlement Agreements
Qian Zhang (aka Eve Zhang)
Eve Zhang was a director and CEO of a fintech company focused on developing proprietary trading software for portfolio managers. Between 2018 and 2022, the company sold about $1.5 million worth of securities to 10 investors without a prospectus (a formal document that details an investment). Zhang authorized and acquiesced those illegal distributions.
Zhang has paid $40,000 to the BCSC and is banned from the investment market for 10 years for unregistered trading and allowing the company to illegally distribute its shares.
Read the news release for full details.
BCSC Findings
David Smillie and ezBtc
A BC-based crypto trading platform, ezBtc, committed fraud by lying to its customers and diverting about $13 million of assets to gambling. BC resident, David Smillie, and ezBtc told customers that their crypto assets would be held in “cold storage” (a secure way of keeping digital assets offline).
Instead, the panel found that a third of all the crypto assets that customers deposited between 2016-2019 were diverted to gambling sites or to Smillie’s personal accounts on other crypto trading platforms.
Read the news release for full details.
Ward Derek Jensen
A North Vancouver man has been sentenced to three years in prison for stealing nearly US$1 million from investors following a criminal investigation by the BCSC. Between 2007 and 2017, Jensen stole from nine investors under the pretense of investing money in a private fund held in a Chicago firm and administered through his BC-based company, Kassel Enterprises.
He promised investors he could generate 14-18% of annual returns but instead misappropriated the funds for his personal use and lost the money to bad stock trades from his own brokerage account.
Read the news release for full details.
BCSC Early Intervention
The BC Securities Commission’s Investment Caution List notifies British Columbians about unqualified investments and unregistered activity originating from outside of the province but accepts BC residents as clients.
Below are the August additions to our Investment Caution List:
TopTradeLife
TopTradeLife claims to be operating from Switzerland and Australia, and it also claims to offer trading and advisory services in forex, cryptocurrencies and derivatives (specifically, contracts for difference).
CapitalClique
CapitalClique claims to be operating in Switzerland, and it also claims to offer different types of accounts for trading in forex and derivative contracts on stocks, commodities, indices, cryptocurrencies, and ETFs.
SwissCoinCo
SwissCoinCo claims to be located in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and it also claims to offer different types of accounts for trading in stocks, forex, commodities, indices and cryptocurrencies.
Morgan Stern
Morgan Stern claims to be located in the United Kingdom and it also claims to offer different types of plans for trading in cryptocurrencies, stocks, commodities, forex and indices.
Magnum Holdings
Magnum Holdings claims to be located in the United Arab Emirates and it also claims to offer different types of accounts for trading in forex, cryptocurrencies, commodities, stocks, indices and ETFs.
Eternity-trade
Eternity-trade claims to offer cryptocurrency and forex trading services. We are aware that they accept British Columbia (BC) residents as clients.
GoldenTargets
GoldenTargets claims to be located in Switzerland and it also claims to offer different types of accounts for trading in commodities, indices, stocks, forex, and other financial instruments.
CRZCoin Technology Inc. (CRZCoin)
CRZCoin claims to be registered in Colorado and it claims to operate an online cryptocurrency trading platform. We are aware that CRZCoin accepts British Columbia (BC) residents as clients.
Magna FX
Magna FX claims to be located in the United Kingdom and it also claims to offer different types of accounts for trading in cryptocurrencies.
Thebiggestfuture
Thebiggestfuture claims to be located in Switzerland and it also claims to offer different types of accounts for trading in commodities, indices, stocks, forex and other financial instruments.
Sure Trade Group
Sure Trade Group claims to be located in the United Kingdom and it also claims to offer different types of accounts for trading in cryptocurrencies, stocks, commodities, indices and forex.
BullTargets
BullTargets claims to be operating from Switzerland, and it also claims to offer different types of accounts for trading in forex, stocks, commodities and cryptocurrencies.
https://m.bit-support-gemini.com (no relation to Gemini Trust Company, LLC operating as Gemini)
https://m.bit-support-gemini.com claims to operate an online cryptocurrency trading platform and we are aware that it accepts British Columbia (BC) residents as clients.
TriumphIncome
TriumphIncome claims to be located in Alberta and it also claims to offer different types of accounts for trading in cryptocurrencies, stocks, commodities, indices and forex.
Capital Market Reserve
Capital Market Reserve claims to offer different types of plans for trading Contracts for Difference (CFD) in forex, stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies and indices.
RATS
RATS claims to operate an online cryptocurrency trading platform and we are aware that RATS accepts British Columbia (BC) residents as clients.
Premier Portfolio Markets
Premier Portfolio Markets claims to be located in Quebec and the United Kingdom. It also claims to offer different types of accounts for trading in cryptocurrencies.
Report a Concern
If you have concerns about a person or company offering an investment opportunity, please contact the BCSC Contact Centre at 604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393 or by e-mail at [email protected]. You can also file a complaint using BCSC’s online complaint form.
If you have information relating to fraud or serious market misconduct, you can securely submit tips through our Whistleblower program. Qualified tips may be eligible for cash rewards up to $500,000.
InvestRight.org is the BC Securities Commission’s investor education website. Subscribe to receive email updates from BCSC InvestRight.
