May 8, 2009 Securities

Montréal – The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has launched penal proceedings against four individuals in the Court of Québec (Criminal and Penal Division) in the districts of Saint-François, Iberville, Laval and Abitibi. The individuals are Jean-Yves Mulet, Guy Desjardins, René Drouin and André Lalonde.

In its suit against Jean-Yves Mulet, the AMF has filed 22 charges and is seeking $519,000 in fines for:

• aiding, by act or omission, the Centre Financier Montérégie (C.F.M.) and Capital P.V.M  inc. with the pursuit of activities as a securities adviser over a period of 471 days, without being registered as such with the regulatory authority, by managing, under a mandate, a securities portfolio, thereby violating section 148 of the Securities Act (the "Act"), and committing an offence under section 202, with reference to section 208 (10 charges);
• pursuing activities as a securities dealer without being registered as such with the regulatory authority by making a distribution of a form of investment governed by the Act, namely, debt securities issued by 9110-5924 Québec inc. and the Centre Financier Montérégie (C.F.M.), thereby violating section 148 of the Act, and committing an offence under section 202 (3 charges);
• aiding, by act or omission, 9110-5924 Québec inc. and the Centre Financier Montérégie (C.F.M.) with the distribution of a form of investment governed by the Act, namely, debt securities without holding a prospectus approved by the regulatory authority, thereby violating section 11 of the Act and committing an offence under section 202, with reference to section 208 (3 charges);
• making misrepresentations in respect of a transaction in a security by stating that the investments were guaranteed, thereby committing an offence under section 197 of the Act (6 charges).

The AMF has also filed 23 charges against Guy Desjardins and is seeking fines totalling $999,000 for:

• aiding, by act or omission, the Centre Financier Montérégie (C.F.M.) and Capital P.V.M. inc. with the pursuit of activities as a securities adviser over a period of 999 days, without being registered as such with the regulatory authority, by managing, under a mandate, a securities portfolio.

With respect to René Drouin, the AMF has filed 12 charges and is seeking $300,000 in fines for:

• aiding, by act or omission, the Centre Financier Montérégie (C.F.M.) and Capital P.V.M. inc. with the pursuit of activities as a securities adviser over a period of 288 days, without being registered as such with the regulatory authority, by managing, under a mandate, a securities portfolio (8 charges);
• pursuing activities as a securities dealer without being registered as such with the AMF by making a distribution of a form of investment governed by the Act, namely, debt securities issued by the Centre Financier Montérégie (C.F.M.) (2 charges);
• aiding, by act or omission, the Centre Financier Montérégie (C.F.M.) with the distribution of a form of investment governed by the Act, namely, debt securities without holding a prospectus approved by the AMF (2 charges).

As for André Lalonde, the AMF has filed 3 charges against him and is seeking $133,000 in fines for:

• aiding, by act or omission, the Centre Financier Montérégie (C.F.M.) and Capital P.V.M. inc. with the pursuit of activities as a securities adviser over a period of 133 days, without being registered as such with the regulatory authority, by managing, under a mandate, a securities portfolio.

Investors were asked to sign portfolio management contracts lasting from 12 to 24 months and were promised high returns. As well, some investors were asked to sign loan contracts in favour of 9110- 5924 Québec inc. et the Centre Financier Montérégie (C.F.M.). The estimated loss incurred by investors is over $775,000.

In September 2008, the AMF also launched penal proceedings against Jean-Yves Mulet and Guy Desjardins in the matter of Capital P.V.M. inc. They respectively face one and three charges for pursuing activities as a dealer without being registered as such.

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

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