The British Columbia Securities Commissions (BCSC) says it has identified nine investors eligible to receive a partial payment made against sanctions ordered in the case of Paul Se Hui Oei and Canadian Manu.
The partial payment – just $69,887.85 – was made by an unidentified third party other than Oei or Canadian Manu in 2023. All told, the company and Oei together were ordered to pay administrative penalties of $5.5 million, along with $3.1-million, representing the amount obtained from their wrongdoing that was not already returned to investors.
“Since the funds recovered by the BCSC are insufficient to pay the investors’ claims in full, the panel ordered that the funds – together with accrued interest – be divided on a prorated basis,” the BCSC stated in an announcement that the commission had identified nine investors eligible for the distribution. The BCSC first called for investors to apply for the funds back in April 2023, giving them until August 2023 to apply.
In 2017 a BCSC panel found that Oei and three companies he controlled, misappropriated funds, using them for their own purposes, when they raised approximately $13.3-million for two start-up companies. The panel made various findings of fraud against both Oei and the company. During the relevant period, neither Oei nor Canadian Manu were registered under the province’s securities act, but both were registered by the Insurance Council of British Columbia throughout the relevant time period. Oei’s license was suspended by the council in October 2016.
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