May 11, 2005 Decisions and Freeze and cease trade orders Securities Insurance

Montréal – In a decision rendered from the bench on May 9, 2005, Judge Nicole Duval-Hesler of the Superior Court (Criminal and Penal Division), district of Terrebonne, dismissed the application for new evidence and the appeal filed by André Charbonneau, the founder of the life insurance company Alternative, compagnie d’assurance sur la vie.

On July 17, 2000, the Commission des valeurs mobilières du Québec (CVMQ) had instituted penal proceedings against Mr. Charbonneau. He was accused of assisting with the distribution of shares of various companies without a prospectus approved by the CVMQ and with making a misrepresentation in respect of a securities transaction.

At the Saint-Jérôme court house on July 2, 2003, Judge Carol Richer of the Court of Québec (Criminal and Penal Division) had ordered André Charbonneau to pay a fine of $5000 on each of the 59 counts for which he was found guilty on June 11, 2004, for a total fine of $295,000, plus costs in the amount of $18,750.

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

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