July 24, 2015 Securities

Montréal - The Autorité des marchés financiers ("AMF") launched a penal proceeding in the judicial district of Gatineau with respect to three individuals and a real estate management firm that are accused of carrying out illegal distributions related to the Grand Resort and Mountain View real estate projects at Lac Sainte-Marie, as well as a reciprocal administrative procedure in connection with an Ontario resident related to the Grand Resort project.

Penal aspect

The AMF launched a penal proceeding consisting of 48 charges against André Lesage, Richard "Rick" Paterson, Julie TrudelThe respondent should not be confused with Julie Trudel (certificate No. 163426), who holds a certificate in damage insurance at Les assurances Descôteaux inc.  and 4144589 Canada inc.

More specifically, the AMF filed 30 charges against André Lesage, the head of the real estate projects at the time of the events at issue, including 14 charges for carrying out distributions without a prospectus receipt from the AMF, 10 charges for pursuing illegal activities as a securities dealer and 6 charges for making misrepresentations to investors. He faces a minimum fine of $241,875.

Richard "Rick" Paterson is charged with seven counts of illegal practice as a securities dealer and faces minimum fines totalling $14,000.

As well, Julie Trudel is charged with six counts of illegal practice as a securities dealer and faces a minimum fine of $12,000.

As for 4144589 Canada inc., the real estate management firm is charged with five counts of conducting distributions without a prospectus receipt from the AMF and faces a minimum fine of $100,000.

Administrative aspect

In addition, the AMF asked the Bureau de décision et de révision (the "Bureau") to issue a reciprocal prohibition order against Archibald Robertson, an individual who was penalized by the Ontario Securities Commission in the matter of an illegal distribution in 2013 and who acted as an intermediary between investors in the Grand Resort project at Lac Sainte-Marie and André Lesage.

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

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