Tribunal bans B.C. man over U.S. pump-and-dump

Ontario’s Capital Markets Tribunal permanently banned a British Columbia man who was accused of running pump-and-dump schemes on the over-the-counter (OTC) markets in the U.S.

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) sought a ban against Amar Bahadoorsingh — to reciprocate an order imposed by the U.S. district court of Massachusetts in March 2023.

The U.S. court sanctioned Bahadoorsingh after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) obtained a default judgment against him amid allegations that he defrauded investors in a couple of pump-and-dump schemes involving the stock of Momentous Holdings Corp. and Uneeqo Inc.

The SEC alleged that, along with a co-conspirator, Bahadoorsingh secretly gained control of the companies’ shares, hired promoters to tout the stocks, and then sold into the artificially elevated prices, “misleading investors, brokers and transfer agents” about their holdings.

The default judgment obtained by the SEC ordered a civil penalty and disgorgement and imposed permanent trading bans against Bahadoorsingh after the court found that he violated U.S. securities laws — conduct that, “would have constituted fraud” under Ontario securities law, the OSC alleged.

As a result, the OSC sought an order echoing the U.S. ban, “to restrain potential future misconduct by Bahadoorsingh” and to deter others from running pump-and-dump schemes.

The tribunal granted the order without hearing from Bahadoorsingh.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.