Notices of Hearing & Temporary Orders

CLAUDIO PERSIANI [Sec. 161]

BCSECCOM #:
Document Type:
Sec. 161
Published Date:
1999-07-09
Effective Date:
1999-06-24
Details:


IN THE MATTER OF THE SECURITIES ACT
R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 418

AND

IN THE MATTER OF CLAUDIO PERSIANI


Notice of Hearing Under Section 161

1. TAKE NOTICE that a hearing will be held (the “Hearing”) to give the Respondent, Claudio Persiani (“Persiani”), an opportunity to be heard before the British Columbia Securities Commission (the “Commission”). At the Hearing, the Commission will be asked by the staff of the Commission to make the following orders:
      1.1 under section 161(1)(c) of the Securities Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 418 (the “Act”) any or all of the exemptions described in sections 44 to 47, 74, 75, 98 or 99 of the Act do not apply to Persiani;

      1.2 under section 161(1)(d) of the Act Persiani resign any position he holds as a director or officer of any issuer and be prohibited from becoming or acting as a director or officer of any issuer;

      1.3 under section 161(1)(d) of the Act Persiani be prohibited from engaging in investor relations activities;

      1.4 under section 162 of the Act Persiani pay an administrative penalty;

      1.5 under section 174 of the Act Persiani pay the prescribed fees or charges for the costs of or related to the Hearing; and

      1.6 any other orders as may be appropriate in the circumstances.
2. AND TAKE NOTICE that the Commission will be asked to consider the following facts and allegations in making its determinations:
      2.1 Persiani was at all material times a resident of British Columbia. He is not currently and has never been registered under the Act in any capacity;

      2.2 during the period from January 1994, to March 1997 (the “Relevant Period”), Persiani defrauded certain individuals who are residents of British Columbia (the “Investors”) of approximately $26,000 by representing to them that he would purchase, and did purchase, for them securities (the “Securities”) of several issuers including OTS Holdings, Veto Resources Ltd. (now Baron Gold Corp.), White Hawk Resources Ltd., UCAN, Consolidated Ewing, WWW Consultants, Madison Systems, AccSys RSP of Canada and Axis Systems (the “Issuers”). Some of the Issuers were reporting issuers under the Act;

      2.3 the investment in the Securities was solicited from the Investors by Persiani without a prospectus or offering memorandum, in various amounts, in breach of sections 34 and 61 of the Act and the exemptions from the registration and prospectus requirements of the Act were not available for the distributions of the Securities to the Investors; and

      2.4 during the Relevant Period, Persiani recommended the purchase of the Securities to the Investors, agreed to purchase Securities for the Investors, and falsely represented to the Investors that he was holding the securities on behalf of the Investors, all of which was contrary to sections 50(1)(d), 57(b) and 57(c) of the Act;

      2.5 the Investors were unsophisticated, had no previous investment experience and did not have their own brokerage accounts;

      2.6 Persiani advised the Investors that he was a promoter of each of the Issuers and could obtain the Securities for the Investors cheaper than they were currently being traded in the market, contrary to section 50(1)(d) of the Act;

      2.7 Persiani made representations to the Investors regarding the future price of the Securities of the Issuers for the purpose of inducing them to make the investments, contrary to section 50(1)(b) of the Act;

      2.8 Persiani offered to process the Investors’ transactions through his own brokerage account since the Investors did not have their own accounts. Each of the Investors provided cash or cheques to Persiani for the investments in the Securities;

      2.9 the Investors did not receive the Securities promised by Persiani or return of their funds from Persiani, with the exception of certain Investors who received partial payments in January, 1998;
      2.10 Persiani either cashed the cheques or deposited the cash and the cheques received the Investors for the purchase of the Securities into his own bank account or brokerage accounts to cover his personal debits in those accounts, contrary to section 57 of the Act;

      2.11 no Securities of any of the Issuers appear to have been purchased or received by Persiani in the names of, or for the account of, any of the Investors, despite payment of funds by the Investors to Persiani for that purpose, contrary to section 57 of the Act; and
      2.12 on or about October 23, 1998, an Information was sworn by the RCMP under which Persiani was charged with seven counts of theft and six counts of fraud, contrary to the Criminal Code. The charges relate to the conduct of Persiani as described in the paragraphs above;
3. AND TAKE NOTICE that Persiani may be represented by counsel at the Hearing and make representations and lead evidence. Persiani is requested to advise the Commission of his intention to attend by contacting the Secretary to the Commission at 1200 - 865 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2H4, Facsimile: (604) 899-6506;

4. AND TAKE NOTICE that determinations may be made if Persiani or his counsel do not appear at the Hearing.

DATED at Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 24, 1999.




Wayne Redwick, C.G.A.
Acting Executive Director
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