Did the Alberta Securities Commission (“ASC”) protect the investors in a recent matter they allowed to be “settled” without going to a hearing? Allegations of misleading/untrue statements to investors, illegal trading, and FRAUD were brought forward in a November 2015 Notice of Hearing against Douglas Vermeeren of Calgary, Alberta.
Looking at the math in the Vermeeren Settlement Agreement, we see he raised $735,000 from 43 unsuspecting investors. David Linder (the Executive Director for the ASC) went on to state that Vermeeren “co-mingled funds in the Respondents personal bank account and corporate accounts controlled by the Respondent. Some funds from these accounts were used for personal expenditures and to pay investors. The Respondent did not keep adequate accounting records making it difficult to determine the precise scope of the fraudulent use of the investors funds.” Furthermore, later in the same document, Linder goes on to state, “Some of the Investors funds were used for third-party lending.”
Of the $735,000 raised, only $382,971 (a mere 52%) was paid back to the investors – leaving a balance of $352,029 not returned.
HERE IS WHERE PEOPLE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO SHAKE THEIR HEADS – the ASC went on to negotiate a settlement of only $120,000 for ALL wrongdoing plus charge him a meager $10,000 to cover the cost of the investigation into his businesses. They went on to issue him a 10-year ban from securities market but allowed him, “in his personal capacity, and for the benefit of his family to trade in or purchasing in exchange listed securities…”
Let’s get this straight – this man was alleged to have committed fraud, took $735,000 from the public, paid back only 52% of the money to his investors – and then only has to come up with $130,000 and sit on the sidelines for 10 years? The investors are out 48% of their money but the ASC gets their $130,000? What happened to the other $352,000 the investors are out? Who is protecting these people and who is going to get their money back?
This is insane! It appears the ASC are run just the same as their sister-affiliation to the west – the “wonderful” BCSC. They do not have the best interest of the investors – this is very clear!
Looking back at another matter before the ASC, we see that this is NOT the first time ASC Executive Director David Linder has been very liberal giving out punishment – we blogged back in June 2016 that the ASC handled another matter regarding the business dealings of League Financial in an atrocious manner – where investors reportedly lost $370 MILLION and the people behind the company were fined a dismal $250,000 by the ASC.
Alberta really is the WILD, WILD WEST!
NOTE: Looking quickly into Vermeeren, we see he is jet-setting to places in both the USA and the United Kingdom applying his trade – stopped in Alberta but still going strong in other areas it would appear. We wonder if he still has the same book keeping skills this time around?
https://www.facebook.com/douglas.vermeeren
A few years ago a company Focused Money Solutions Inc. Run by Victor DeLaet father of the golfer Graham DeLaet “lost” 53 million dollars trading in insurance settlements from policies in the U.S..Turns out that at the time dealing in insurance policies was illegal in Alberta and I think in B.C. but he still was buying and selling .These policies were suppose to be re-insured so there should have been little down side. Turns out however only one policy was ever re-insured. The ASC I think would have been caught in a sh&t storm if that got out so the ASC gave the usual never pay penalties and buried the file.The ASC as is most of these “Regulators” are useless. No money was ever recaptured.
Actually Vermeeren paid back more than what the report alleges and continues to pay back several of the individuals involved in Monthly Millionaire Mentor. You can find this through settlements publicly listed with the Alberta Provincial Court. In addition, Vermeeren’s lawyers argued that much of the money Vermeeren had taken is was not subject to securities regulation as they were providing loans to third party entrepreneurs. Vermeeren took very little of the money into his accounts personally. If you look carefully at the facts Vermeeren was treated justly and paid a significant fine although he did not personal profit extensively from the funds taken. I have seen the accounts and have been privy to what actually occurred.
It’s easy to make comments without know what actually happened and is happening. Another error in your article is worth pointing out. He is not globetrotting and teaching wealth and investment principles. He speaks on a variety of other subjects. Having first hand knowledge of the situaiton I know he feels bad that some people (not all) lost money engaging in the entrepreneurial loans he presented to them (and invited them to do their own extensive due diligence, he was also clear upfront he was not licensed.) He has vowed he will not teach wealth principles or give instructions to anyone in regards to money matters in the future as he continues to pay back several individuals. The wealth instruction was never a major part of his business. He is an honest and sincere person who admits he made some mistakes, voluntarily paid the penalty and was forced to concede to certain penalties and allegations in a settlement with ASC. This has been very hard on him, his family and there were those who were making money on these entrepreneurial loans and those who did not are being repaid or have been given instructions as to who to pursue to explore their rights. (Again He did not keep the funds.) The ASC order in fact made any repayment much more difficult and less likely to happen. My question is what did the ASC do with $120,000? Did they divide it among those out the funds or pocket it? The real criminal here is the ASC.
I have had dealing with Vermeeren and have actually found him to be quite genuine. He owned this mistake very quickly and shared all of the things that he and his company had done to repair this situation. I actually have a lot of respect for him. I have been involved with other wealth coaches and real estate seminars that were not as forthcoming. I think it’s a shame that the author of this article is so misinformed and has injured Vermeeren’s business by having this show up in google searches. There are far better targets for him to chase and expose if he/she feels that it is their duty to do so.
Blagh Blagh Blagh…I get it! The ASC is lying about everything they said about Mr. V! Poor guy! I feel his pain!