News Release

Vancouver – The B.C. Securities Commission has upheld a TSX Venture Exchange Inc. decision to ban a man who pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder drug monies from key positions with public companies.

John Charles Schnurr is prohibited from acting as a director, officer, key employee of, or a consultant to any listed company or its subsidiaries.

In 1999, Schnurr pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder drug monies. He was sentenced in the Ontario Court of Justice to a conditional discharge and fined $60,000.

In a decision made public today, the commission found that the Exchange’s June 19, 2001 decision was reasonable and accords with the law, the evidence and the public interest.

In reaching its decision, the commission considered whether the Exchange had committed any reviewable error that warranted commission intervention. BC Policy 15-601 Commission Hearingsstates that the commission will confirm a decision of the Exchange unless:
a) the Exchange has erred in law
b) the Exchange has overlooked material evidence
c) compelling evidence is presented to the commission that was not tendered in the original hearing, or
d) the commission’s view of the public interest is different from that of the Exchange

Finding no such conditions for intervention, the panel dismissed Schnurr’s application and confirmed the decision of the Exchange.

The B.C. Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating trading in securities and exchange contracts within the province. Copies of the decision can be viewed in the documents database of the commission’s website www.bcsc.bc.ca or by contacting Andrew Poon, Media Relations, 604-899-6880.