Acting illegally as securities dealer and distribution without prospectus - Louis-Paul Lafond and Jean-Pierre Lafond plead guilty

Decisions and Freeze and cease trade orders Securities

Montréal - On December 19, 2011, in the Court of Québec, judicial district of Trois-Rivières, Louis-Paul Lafond and Jean-Pierre Lafond pleaded guilty to a total of 53 counts for acting illegally as a securities dealer and for making distributions without a prospectus.

More specifically, Louis-Paul Lafond pleaded guilty to 35 counts and was ordered to pay fines totalling $160,500. Jean-Pierre Lafond pleaded guilty to 18 counts and was ordered to pay fines totalling $135,000.

As well, the Coopérative de services aux professionnels de la Mauricie pleaded guilty to 16 counts and was ordered to pay fines totalling $160,000. In addition, the Coopérative de travailleurs actionnaires de C. T. B. T. pleaded guilty to two counts and was ordered to pay fines totalling $20,000.

In this matter, the Autorité des marchés financiers(the AMF) demonstrated to the Court that the two individuals used two cooperatives to make illegal distributions. The AMF's investigation revealed that at least 11 people invested approximately $88,000 in this matter. The victims were unable to recover this amount.

The Autorité des marchés financiers (the AMF) is the regulatory and oversight body for Québec's financial industry.

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