Meet Our Guardians

What do you do at the BCSC? 

Our team assesses most of the complaints and referrals that come into Enforcement and determines the most effective course of action. That might include disrupting activities that are harming B.C. investors, referring matters to our specialized investigative teams, or directing certain cases to other law‑enforcement agencies. 

What does a typical day look like for you? 

A big part of my day is communicating with team members and strategizing next steps on our files. I’m constantly asking myself: What is the most efficient and effective action we can take to address this suspected misconduct? 

Our lead investigators are also continually triaging complaints and tips from the public, making sure we’re responding quickly and appropriately to each one. 

Some of my favourite work involves educating the public about investment fraud. I speak to the media to help explain emerging risks and trends in plain language, so people know what to watch for and how to protect themselves.  

Another aspect of my job is working with other law‑enforcement and regulatory partners on how to identify and combat securities misconduct.  

It’s rewarding to see how this kind of education—whether it’s with the public or with other agencies—can make a real difference in preventing harm. 

You have a background in “traditional” policing. What motivated you to transition from policing to securities enforcement? 

I always had an underlying interest in finance and commerce, and studied business at university. I entered policing out of curiosity and worked in general duty policing, with a large portion of my career spent in serious and major crime. For younger officers, commercial crime isn’t seen as an “exciting” area – you want to work on organized crime, homicides, assaults. But as I got older, I felt drawn back to using my analytical skills and to focus on financial crimes. So I spent three years with the RCMP Integrated Market Enforcement Team, investigating investment market fraud. 

I also came to realize how difficult it is for traditional law enforcement agencies to investigate market manipulation cases. Criminal investigations require proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and these cases often involve numerous bad actors in many  Canadian and foreign jurisdictions. Police have to rely on lengthy, formal procedures to gather evidence, and the cross‑border nature of these crimes makes it extremely challenging – sometimes essentially impossible – to obtain the grounds needed to even begin an investigation.  

I wasn’t able to pursue the kinds of complex market manipulation files I was passionate about, and that ultimately motivated me to join the BCSC. 

What do you find most rewarding about your job? 

I’ve been here for 15 years, and when I look back, the most rewarding moments are the cases where we were able to freeze significant amounts of money and return those funds to investors. 

We always do everything in our power to try to return money to victims who’ve suffered financial harm, though unfortunately it just isn’t possible in many of our cases.  

That’s why my most memorable case was Bossteam, where we were able to repay victims 100 per cent of their money, plus an additional 5 per cent interest. Being able to deliver that outcome is rare, so it was incredibly meaningful to me. 

What do you want people to know about investing? 

Investing is important, but it’s equally important that people rely on trustworthy sources of information. We deal with a constant stream of scams, with new ones emerging and existing ones evolving daily. Scammers are highly skilled at adapting their tactics. 

It’s important for Investors to do their due diligence and rely on information from sources like us and advice from registered advisors – not just from social media. They should learn the red flags of investment fraud and resist being rushed into decisions by someone claiming they might “miss out.” Registered investment advisors are trained and qualified, and overseen by the BCSC. Someone on social media isn’t necessarily, so you need to check. 

What’s one thing you wish the public understood about the BCSC? 

That we’re a team of dedicated professionals working to protect them from bad actors. But we need the public to remain vigilant as well. We want to recover every dollar for every victim. But we can’t act until we become aware of the misconduct, we can only act within the limits of the law, and we have to legally prove misconduct. Unfortunately, that means we can’t always achieve the outcomes that we hope for. That’s why it’s so important for people to be vigilant and report any suspicious investment opportunity to us early, so we can take action to prevent harm to other investors.