A Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) hearing panel has fined Alvinder Singh Gill $310,000 and assessed costs in the amount of $30,000 after the former life agent and dealing representative admitted to defrauding a retired couple, taking at least $329,625 from them over 10 years, and maintaining the fraud by creating a series of fictitious account statements which corroborated Gill’s misrepresentations.
The decision comes after Gill failed to respond to 20 separate instances of CIRO staff requesting information and documentation. “The respondent replied with a total of 48 separate pieces of correspondence in which he repeatedly promised to accommodate the investigation. Among that correspondence were 18 separate requests for deadline extensions or adjournments.”
Threatened suicide
CIRO’s decision (penalty) and reasons goes on to document the numerous adjournment requests Gill made of the hearing panel, the incidences where he threatened to commit suicide over video conference with the hearing “so the panel could see for itself the consequences of denying him an adjournment,” and repeated commitments to the area’s hospitals which happened to coincide with hearing dates.
The regulatory decision also indicates that Gill also used threats of suicide to coerce the clients he’d defrauded.
“The respondent never fulfilled any of his promises to provide staff with the information or documents it had requested,” CIRO states. “The respondent had demonstrated a consistent pattern of telling staff whatever it took to put off meeting his obligation to provide information.”
According to the decision (penalty) and reasons published by CIRO, during the hearing, when he was present, Gill failed to solicit answers relevant to the allegations and was instead focused on the treatment he received at the hands of his firm’s management. He was aggressive, interrupted explanations and arguments and attempted repeatedly to revisit evidence that had already been settled.
At the same time, while arguing for adjournments, the panel noted that Gill was able to make motions, argue them and ask questions that referenced the evidence – contrary, they say, to Gill’s repeated assertions that he was mentally unfit to mount a proper defense.
Deliberateness
“It is difficult to imagine misconduct more detrimental to the public interest than an approved person perpetrating a financial fraud against a retired couple,” the decision states. “The defining characteristic of the respondent’s misconduct was its deliberateness.”
The sanctions include a permanent ban from securities re-registration with any CIRO member firms. These follow earlier sanctions levied by the Insurance Council of British Columbia. To date, Gill has not repaid any of the money owed to the clients in question.
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