Mount Real - Paul Messier Jr fined $104,000

Securities

Montréal, January 24, 2011 - On January 17, 2010, before Judge Jean-Pierre Boyer of the Court of Québec, Paul Messier Jr. pleaded guilty to 10 counts brought against him related to the Mount Real matter and was fined a total of $104,000.

More specifically, the Autorité des marchés financiers (the AMF) accused Paul Messier Jr. of aiding Mount Real Acceptance Corporation and Investissements Real Vest Ltée. with illegal distributions on eight occasions, and with acting as a securities dealer or adviser without being registered as such on 12 occasions. Judge Boyer ordered him to pay fines totalling $104,000 for all 20 counts brought against him by the AMF, double the minimum fine set by the Securities Act.

On January 24, 2007, the AMF filed 619 charges against 24 individuals who acted as representatives in the matter of Mount Real Corporation and its subsidiaries. To date, 19 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 (sentence pending), Nick Mylonakis (sentence pending) and Paul Messier Jr.) have been found guilty on 498 charges and fined a total of $2,318,500.

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

- 30 -

Information:

Media only:
Sylvain Théberge: 514-940-2176

Information Centre:
Québec City: 418-525-0337
Montréal: 514-395-0337
Toll-free: 1-877-525-0337

www.lautorite.qc.ca This link will open in a new window

Additional news