Bob Mackin
The industry organization that regulates investment and mutual fund dealers says it will not release images of a man that it says ripped-off two senior citizens for more than $350,000.
Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) also would not confirm or deny to theBreaker.news whether it reported Marc-Antoine Ladeiro to the RCMP.
“CIRO informs and communicates with the appropriate law enforcement authorities when relevant but cannot comment on specific cases,” said corporate communications manager Joanna Nicholson by email.
Marc-Antoine Ladeiro in 2021, after winning the Okanagan Treasure Hunters Club metal detector contest in Penticton. (OTHC.info).
Vanished after Valentine’s Day
Last June, theBreaker.news reported on allegations against the former Kelowna-based Scotia Securities Inc. mutual fund dealer.
In November, a CIRO tribunal found that between July 2020 and February 2022, Ladeiro “willfully and deceptively misappropriated” $354,700 from two retired clients aged between 88 and 90. At the end of December 2021, one of the clients died.
Ladeiro resigned Valentine’s Day 2022 for personal reasons and advised his branch manager that he was leaving for Europe.
Ladeiro did not reply to CIRO or attend last fall’s hearing, so it was held in absentia.
Million-dollar fine for broken rules
The tribunal ruled that Ladeiro broke mutual fund dealer rules to deal honestly, fairly and in good faith with clients and to take reasonable steps to identify and avoid conflicts of interest.
It permanently banned him from securities-related business in any capacity and slapped him with a $1.06 million fine, representing three times the profit he obtained.
He must also pay almost $19,000 in investigation and prosecution costs.
Will CIRO ever collect the fines?
The tribunal’s decision said Ladeiro’s registration form and employment file says he is a French passport holder educated in France. He also worked there in financial services from 2010 to 2018, when he came to Canada.
“In March 2023, staff engaged a skip tracer who was unable to locate the respondent at his last known address or telephone number or through searches of public and proprietary records in British Columbia, federal and British Columbia corrections records, public databases in France and social media sites,” the CIRO decision said.
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