Published: November 9, 2011
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Montréal - Recently, Jean-Yves Mulet Avella was the subject of two judgments in which he was found guilty of various activities in connection with illegal distributions in the matters of Centre Financier Montérégie(CFM) and Centre financier Carrefour.The Centre financier Carrefour mentioned in this press release should not be confused with the financial planning, insurance of persons and group insurance of persons firm named Centre financier Carrefour inc. (registration number 508049) with offices in Montréal and Pointe-Claire, and duly registered with the AMF. 

CFM Matter - Jean-Yves Mulet Avella fined $115,000

On September 26, 2011, Judge Johanne White, Justice of the Peace of the Court of Québec, district of Montréal, found Jean-Yves Mulet Avella guilty on seven counts in connection with activities related to illegal distributions in the CFM matter and ordered him to pay fines totalling $115,000.

Jean-Yves Mulet Avella was found guilty on seven counts for aiding CFM with illegal practice as a securities adviser (three counts), aiding 9110-5924 Québec inc. (Marilys) with making a distribution without a prospectus (one count), illegally pursuing activities as a securities dealer without being registered as such (one count) and making misrepresentations about investments by telling investors that they were guaranteed (two counts). Jean-Yves Mulet Avella has announced his intention to appeal the judgment.

In August 2010, Judge Nancy McKenna of the Court of Québec in the district of Abitibi, found Jean-Yves Mulet Avella guilty of four violations in connection with the same CFM matter and imposed fines totalling $12,000. An appeal of the decision filed by the AMF has not yet been heard. For now, Jean-Yves Mulet Avella has been fined a total of $127,000 for his illegal activities in the CFM matter.

In this matter, the victims transferred the management of their self-directed RRSPs or LIRAs to CFM. Jean-Yves Mulet Avella obtained management mandates from investors. The victims then provided their access codes and passwords so that CFM could conduct transactions for them.

Jean-Yves Mulet Avella is one of four individuals prosecuted by the AMF in the CFM matter. André Lalonde was fined a total of $133,000 in August 2010. Guy Desjardins, who was found guilty on 11 counts in January 2011 and fined a total of $404,000 in September 2011, filed an appeal. As for René Drouin, his hearing is scheduled for February 16 and 17, 2012 at the Montréal courthouse.

Jean-Yves Mulet Avella and Martin Poulin Guilty in the Centre financier Carrefour Matter

On September 30, 2011, in a separate judgment, Judge Hubert Couture of the Court of Québec, district of Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, found Jean-Yves Mulet Avella and Martin Poulin guilty on three counts each for activities related to illegal distributions in the Centre financier Carrefourmatter. Sentencing hearings in this matter were set for January 16, 2012.

Finally, Jean-Yves Mulet Avella is subject to an order issued by the Bureau de décision et de révisionprohibiting him from acting as a securities adviser since July 2009 and was fined $1,000 for illegal practice in the matter of Capital PVM inc. in October 2009.

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

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