News Release

Vancouver - The Executive Director of the British Columbia Securities Commission has issued a notice of hearing to request extending a temporary order against a former B.C. registrant who is facing charges of fraud and conspiracy in the United States.

The notice of hearing says that grand juries in New York and New Jersey filed indictments against Philip Wong, a former B.C. registrant and stock promoter. The charges relate to issuers that trade in the U.S. over-the-counter market.
 
In December 2006, the Southern District of New York filed an indictment alleging Wong, a Vancouver resident, schemed to defraud investors by bribing financial advisers to cause their customers to buy shares of eNotes Systems, Inc. (now Veridigm, Inc.). The indictment alleges these purchases permitted Wong to generate cash by selling his eNotes shares.

The second indictment, filed in New Jersey in July 2007, alleges Wong and Gerald Stefaniuk, a B.C. registrant, schemed to manipulate the market for the securities of Secureware, Inc. by artificially inflating the demand and price, in order to allow Wong to sell his shares at a profit. Wong allegedly discussed his plan to bribe stockbrokers to buy Secureware shares with an FBI informant.

American authorities arrested Wong in February 2008.

These allegations have not been proven. At the hearing, counsel for the Executive Director will ask the Commission to adjourn the matter and extend the temporary order pending the conclusion of the U.S. proceedings.

The B.C. Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating trading in securities within the province. You may view the notice of hearing on our website www.bcsc.bc.ca by typing in the search box Philip Wong or 2008 BCSECCOM 150.  If you have questions, contact Ken Gracey, Media Relations, 604-899-6577.

Learn how to avoid investment fraud at the BCSC's investor education website: www.investright.org.