February 28, 2013

Montréal - On February 12, 2013, Justice of the Peace Marie-Josée Hénault of the Court of Québec, district of Longueuil, imposed fines totalling $82,000 on Raymond Parent, previously found guilty on 11 counts for pursuing activities related to illegal distributions in Société d'investissement Tempus S.E.C. and making misrepresentations.

In her sentencing judgment, the Justice of the Peace noted that the defendant shows little, if any, remorse or regret towards the victims. He considers himself a victim of his good nature and of simply wanting to help. He appears quite unaware of the effect of his involvement on investors and seems to want to offload the responsibility. The fines imposed on Raymond Parent represent twice to four times the minimum fines prescribed by law.

During the trial, the evidence showed that Tempus was a limited partnership entirely set up by Raymond Parent for the sole purpose of making high-return foreign investments. He managed its activities, explained the distribution to investors, decided on the investment to be made with the money they had pooled in the company and made all other decisions concerning Tempus.

To lure potential investors, Raymond Parent promised returns of 20% at the end of three months. Parent guaranteed investors that the investments were risk-free since they were channelled through the trust accounts of law firms.

In the same matter, Alain Botbol, who was named as a general partner in Tempus' articles of association and whose role was to carry out the decisions made by Raymond Parent, was fined a total of $49,000.

Reminder for investors
 In its recent awareness campaign, 5bonnesquestions.ca This link will open in a new window (in French only), the AMF reminded consumers of the importance of being cautious when promised a return that is too good to be true. A basic investment rule should be followed: the greater the expected return, the greater the risk associated with it.

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

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