Month: August 2017

In a former post in this blog a few months ago, we told a story of one of our former investors calling the BCSC to ask questions regarding our matter.  Unfortunately, whomever she spoke to at the Commission hung up on her before she could get ANY answers to the questions she had for them.

Today, we thought we would try to get answers from Staff Litigator Mr. Olubode Fagbamiye (the Staff Litigator that worked directly on my file) from essentially day 1.  He was one of the lawyers (the other being C. Paige Leggat) that was present during the hearing and he was certainly there during the period of time we presented our settlement Offer that would have seen the investors participate in the successful Deercrest property (without involvement from Staff at West Karma Ltd.).

As you will see in the video below, we did not waste Mr. Fagbamiye’s time and asked him 3 very direct questions.     It is almost laughable his replies (or lack there of) to our repeated questions.

IT IS OUR OPINION THIS VIDEO CONFIRMS EVERYTHING WE HAVE BEEN SAYING THE ENTIRE TIME.   AND IT REMAINS OUR OPINION BY FAILING TO RESPOND TO OUR QUESTIONS THE BCSC (AND THEIR STAFF) ARE COMPLETELY INCOMPETENT IN RUNNING THE SECURITIES INDUSTRY IN THIS PROVINCE!  

Shame on them all!   Especially this incompetent spineless amoeba that happened to work on our file (manipulating the evidence and not taking a valid settlement offer to the Executive Director).

 

For all former investors in both FCC and DCF, we encourage you to watch the video – now more than every you need to contact (phone, mail, email, fax) and get these questions answered.

They cannot ignore all of you!   As you can see, Fagbamiye’s phone number is 604-899-6790 and the main line is 604-899-6500.   Call them today – record the call or have someone witness the call for you.    Email them weekly if you need to!

It is time they are held accountable for THEIR actions in the West Karma matter.

 

The Respondents sent their time-sensitive SETTLEMENT PROPOSAL to Staff on November 7, 2013.   Finally, after 7 fucking weeks of waiting, the Respondents were very eager to receive the reply from the Litigator at the BCSC.     As the attachment was opened, eagerness turned to frustration as Staff indicated they did not even take the Settlement Agreement to the Executive Director for approval (or even a review/negotiation).  The reason the offer was time sensitive is the builder and lender were anxious to move the project forward in a timely fashion.

There was NO reason ever given why Staff took this amount of time to reply.  Staff bozo (C. Paige Leggat) then had the audacity to tell me (in an email) that the only person at the BCSC that could approve a Settlement Offer was the Executive Director (at that time Paul Bourque).    She would not take it to him…what a garbage human being!  The poor investors!

    STAFF LITIGATOR C. PAIGE LEGGAT

Instead Leggat indicated the only way she (they) would take a Settlement Offer to the Executive Director is IF I pleaded guilty to their long list of allegations and agreed to pay $5.8 million dollars in fines and disgorgement.   The BCSC website indicates all Settlements must be paid in full at the time the Settlement Agreement is agreed to – this was impossible for the Respondents, let alone the FACT that many of the allegations in the Notice of Hearing were NOT accurate.

ON WHAT PLANET DOES A PERSON HAVE TO PLEAD GUILTY TO ALL ALLEGATIONS OUTLINED IN A NOTICE OF HEARING AND THEN PAY A “RANSOM” OF NEARLY $6 MILLION DOLLARS JUST TO GET THEIR SETTLEMENT OFFER NEGOTIATED?   THIS IS BORDERLINE EXTORTION!

The parties could have avoided a long, lengthy, expensive hearing IF Staff Litigators and the Executive Director would have even looked at the proposal and actually thought about the investors.   In hindsight, it appears that the BCSC did not have the investors best interest at stake as their website promotes – nor was it a fair system for all parties.  Please read for yourself, the reply from Staff and ask “WHY DID THE BCSC NOT TAKE THE TIME TO EVEN REVIEW THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WHEN SO MUCH WAS AT STAKE FOR THE INVESTORS?”   

We encourage anyone affected by the Settlement Offer not even being put onto the Executive Directors desk for a review to contact the BCSC at 1-604-899-5600 during regular business hours.  Maybe you can get an answer – the Respondents have certainly not been able to do so.

[Click on the link…]

December 30, 2013 – LEGATT to RESPONDENTS

On May 11, 2016, we sent a letter to BCSC Chair BRENDA LEONG and requested she provide (to us) any correspondence between her Staff Litigators (C. Paige Leggat and Olubode Fagbamiye) and the Executive Director ( Paul Bourque ) regarding the Settlement Offer we were trying to bring forward that would possibly have brought funds back to the former investors in FCC and DCF.

As you see in this letter FOI Request #1617-0005 – Reply from BCSC – June 16, 2016.pub , Ms. Leong indicates there are no records matching my request.   We don’t even want to begin to understand why there would be NO correspondence between lawyers/clients when millions of dollars could have been at stake for the investors – how is this even possible??

Not having internal correspondence between relevant parties (considering what was at stake for the former investors) reeks of unprofessionalism by Staff and certainly does not give any confidence they truly had the best interest of the investors during all relevant times.  

That being said, Leong is either lying or (for whatever reason) there truly are NO records of correspondence between her star lawyers and their higher ups.   Either way, this translates into a huge problem for the BCSC.    Here’s why….

Assuming she is not lying, as per the Code of Ethic’s on the  Law Society of British Columbia’s website , a lawyer must present ANY settlement offer it is presented to their client to avoid hearing.  Staff DID NOT do this as they have admitted this in letters to the Respondents.   In a file of this magnitude, and with the numerous attempts by us to settle – there is not one internal document related to the settlement offer that was presented?   We truly find this hard to believe but if true – these are the people that are “protecting the capital markets in BC”???    Time for a WAKE UP CALL BRITISH COLUMBIA!!

And if she is lying then this becomes a bigger problem as she has been appointed to that position by elected government officials – more than likely Finance Minister Michael De jong or Premier Christy Clark.

In the first scenario above, we have the facts:

• The Respondents submitted a Settlement Offer to the Commission on November 7, 2013 – Staff did not respond until December 30, 2013.
• When  Staff did reply, they stated they had NOT taken the Settlement Offer to the Executive Director and would only do so IF we plead guilty to ALL allegations AND paid approximately $5.8 million in fines and disgorgement.
• As of June 16, 2016, we now have it in writing that there in NO communications whatsoever between Staff and the Executive Director with respect to any discussion regarding the Settlement Offer.

As we were preparing this latest blog post – something remarkable just became VERY apparent….what is happening down at the BCSC???

  (Source: mypersonaltrainervancouver.com)

C.Paige Leggat – Staff Litigator                                                                              RESIGNED OR TERMINATED IN 2014

    (Source: mingpaocanada.com)

Teresa Mitchell-Banks  – Director of Enforcement                                          RESIGNED OR TERMINATED IN 2015

         (Source: cbc.ca)

Paul C. Bourque –  Executive Director                                                                  RESIGNED IN 2016

These are the 3 major parties that would have been responsible for negotiating, accepting or denying the settlement agreement WITH the investor in mind.

PLEASE….FORMER INVESTORS IN FCC AND DCF – HELP US GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS.   AGAIN, THIS SETTLEMENT OFFER WAS NOT EVEN PRESENTED TO THE ONLY PERSON THAT COULD HAVE ACCEPTED IT ON YOUR BEHALF!      

******CONTACT THE BCSC AND FIND OUT WHY!******

604-899-5600 or email them at: inquiries@bcsc.bc.ca 

IF THEY DON’T ANSWER YOU, GO ABOVE THEIR HEADS AND CONTACT YOUR LOCAL MLA OR OTHER GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL!  ITS VITAL! 

Here is an example of what happens when you allow a government entity to be the judge, jury, and executioner in a case where evidence can be submitted and proven on the ‘Balance of Probabilities”.   Sloppy investigative work seems to be the forte of the British Columbia Securities Commission.    Let’s take a look….

In November 2007, the Developer of the Falls Resort approached me and asked if I knew of anyone that might purchase a unit in the Deercrest Townhomes, located on the property.    He had Unit 101 that was available for sale and the Respondents indicated they would ask around.   I called one of the investors in Edmonton and asked if he wanted to buy and he indicated he would.

Shortly there later, a commission cheque in the amount of $24,292.75 arrived made payable to West Karma Ltd.    I placed the cheque into the WKL bank account and NEVER wrote a cheque to myself personally.   Looking at the bank account statements for WKL for the following 10 days, $20571.61 was spent directly on business expenses for WKL and FCC and the balance were used for personal expenses.

THESE WERE NOT INVESTOR FUNDS YET PAID FOR BUSINESS RELATED DIRECTLY TO THE WKL AND FCC.

That’s fine – people place funds into their business accounts on a regular basis as shareholder loans.     IF the BCSC’s Executive Director (and his Staff) wanted to bring accurate allegations in their Notice of Hearing they needed to complete a proper accounting and bring in a proper number into the allegation….but let’s see what Lead Investigator Elizabeth Chan had to say during the cross examination during our hearing in April 2014:

Q Can we put up, pull up Exhibit 00240? Can you please read this letter for the panel?

A Just the body of the letter, like, —

Q Just —

A — after the “re” line?

Q Just lead the letter please, from who it’s addressed to, and who it’s from and the body of the letter, sure, please.

A Okay. So, I don’t think this is a document that I obtained. Uhm, it says:

West Karma Ltd., BC
Dear Sirs/Mesdames:
Re: Sales of 101-51096 Falls Court, Chilliwack, BC (the “Property”) by Blackburn
Developments Ltd. (the “Seller”) to -REDACTED-  (the “Buyers”) effective November 23, 2007 (the”Completion Date”). As notary for the seller, we enclose our firm trust cheque drawn in your favour, in the amount of $24,292.75 representing payment in full for the Commission with respect to the above transaction. Please provide our office with a receipt for payment at your earliest convenience. We trust you find the foregoing and enclosed to be in order, however, should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the writer or Shirley MacKillop of this office.
Yours truly, Simpson & Simpson. And the name there says, “R. Dean Simpson” and the letter, the date, November 23, 2007.

Q Thank you. And have you ever seen this document before?

A Uhm, I didn’t obtain this document during the course of my investigation, but I did see it in the binder of materials of materials contained in documents that you were intending to rely on.

Q That’s the first time you saw it though?

A Yes.
Source: Hearing Transcript, April 11, 2014 (pages 23-25)

Former BCSC Investigator Elizabeth (“Liz”)Chan

This is the testimony of Staff’s most important witness – a Certified General Accountant with a degree from the University of British Columbia in Bachelor of Commerce?    That she never saw items going into the bank account that were relevant IF they wanted to bring an accurate number into the hearing room.   Elizabeth Chan is a highly paid Senior Investigator with the BCSC – it is HER job to find out the numbers used in the Notice of Hearing are accurate!   There is NO excuse for the sloppy work Staff completed in this matter!

How is this even possible is the onus was on the Executive Director to bring in clear and compelling evidence to prove the allegations in the Notice of Hearing?   Was the Respondents not entitled to a fair hearing with accurate numbers as the BCSC boasts on their website?   This is what happens when you allow an absolute failure to run rampant down at the BCSC….

It has now been over 9 months since we contacted Mr. Fagbamiye by phone (and then by letter) and he continues to hide from answering simple questions that would allow the former investors in both FCC and DCF to hear first hand whether or not staff at the BC Securities Commission acted in bad faith when preparing legal documents in our matter AND whether or not they erred in not taking the Settlement Offer to the Executive Director of the BCSC (whom we were told was the ONLY person at the BCSC that would be able to accept our settlement offer.

Mr. Fagbamiye (as we have seen for months now) appears to be a coward and will not answer our questions – despite even telling me to put my questions down on paper and that he would answer them accordingly.    And on Saturday, we tried AGAIN in vain to get Fagbamiye to answer our questions…

Mr. Fagbamiye is hiding something and we need to get to the bottom of it once and for all.   I am calling on all former investors in FCC and DCF to call, write, email, fax, text, etc. Fagbamiye and ask him to answer these questions.

They are going to have to answer them sooner or later – the walls at the BCSC are NOT going to allow them to not answer these questions for much longer.   Our story is getting bigger by the day and as certain politicians that are appearing to aid the staff at the Commission are replaced – those that have acted in bad faith are going to be exposed.