This decision caps the legal proceedings that Quebec regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers, initiated against Robert Morin, Roger Éthier, Bernard DeZwirek and Vincent Firth in February 2018.
12 out of 21 charges
Robert Morin pled guilty to 12 grouped charges, namely 4 charges of illegal activities as a securities dealer, 4 charges of breaching a decision by the Tribunal administratif des marchés financiers, 3 charges of providing false or misleading information to investors and one charge of investment without a prospectus.
Initially, Robert Morin faced 21 charges: 7 charges of illegal activities as a securities dealer, 4 charges of distribution without a prospectus, 3 charges of providing false or misleading information to investors, and 7 charges of breaching a decision by the Tribunal administratif des marchés financiers.
Unauthorized solicitation
The investigation conducted by the AMF found that Robert Morin had solicited clients to invest in two companies. At the time, he was not registered with the regulator. What’s more, the companies had not prepared a prospectus for AMF approval nor did they have an exemption.
Under the other decision in this case, Roger Éthier was ordered to pay total fines of $78,000, while Bernard DeZwirek was fined $32,000 and Vincent Firth $52,000. Firth also received a 48-month prison sentence.
Repeat offender
In an earlier decision for a different case, Robert Morin was ordered to pay fines of nearly $1 million, and to serve a 36-month prison sentence.
The Chambre de la sécurité financière, Quebec’s SRO for representatives, ordered that Robert Morin be permanently struck off the role in 2012. The disciplinary committee of the Chambre found him guilty of having solicited and obtained from clients sums totalling nearly $247,000 for investments that he was not authorized to offer. In addition, Robert Morin used these sums for his own benefit.
He was also found guilty of selling clients shares valued at over $220,000 without holding the proper certification. He also sold his shares to several clients at a price that he had set himself.
