April 10, 2012 Decisions and Freeze and cease trade orders Securities

Montréal - Marc-André Froment and Roberto Milzi, both prosecuted by the Autorité des marchés financiers(the AMF) for violations of the Securities Act in connection with the distribution of Mount Real and Norshield products, were recently fined.

Marc-André Froment fined $135,000

On April 2, 2012, Judge Hélène Morin of the Court of Québec ordered Marc-André Froment to pay fines totalling $135,000 for violations in connection with the Mount Real and Norshield matters.

Marc-André Froment pleaded guilty to 12 charges of aiding Mount Real Acceptance Corporation and MRACS Management Ltd. with illegal distributions and 12 charges of illegally acting as a securities dealer without being registered as such.

Marc-André Froment also pleaded guilty to three charges of aiding, by act or omission, Balanced Return Fund with illegal distributions and three additional charges of illegally acting as a securities dealer without being registered as such. These violations are in connection with the Norshield matter.

Roberto Milzi fined $1,000

In the matter of Mount Real, on January 26, 2012, Judge Pierre Labelle of the Court of Quebec ordered Roberto Milzi to pay a fine of $1,000 for acting illegally as a securities dealer without being registered.

On January 24, 2007, the AMF filed 619 charges against 24 individuals for acting as representatives in the matter of Mount Real Corporation and its subsidiaries. To date, 22 individuals (Victor Lacroix, Armando Ferruci, Christophe Balayer, Luigi Muro, Anthony Cappellano, Éric Couture, Laraine Lyttle, Yves Tardif, Guy Prescott, Carole Dorion, Sylvie St-Denis, Antonella Niro, Paul Quenneville, Jaime Lao Wan Lian, Francesco Iaconno, Fayza Rifai, René Proteau, Nick Mylonakis, Paul Messier Jr, William Marston, Marc-André Froment and Roberto Milzi) have been found guilty on a total of 544 charges and $2,618,000 in fines.

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

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