Bob Mackin
A Chartered Professional Accountant in Burnaby settled April 20 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over his involvement in several penny stock pump-and-dump schemes.
The SEC said George John Drazenovic proposed the settlement after a Feb. 24 judgment ordered him to disgorge $331,595 in ill-gotten gains from sales of stock during his participation in a fraud. It also ordered him to pay $51,050 in pre-judgment interest and a $236,451 civil money penalty.
George Drazenovic (UCW)
Immediate suspension
“It is hereby ordered effective immediately, that respondent Drazenovic is suspended from appearing or practicing before the Commission as an accountant,” said the commission’s April 20 filing.
The SEC told the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that Drazenovic furthered penny stock fraud schemes by at least two distinct rings between April 2010 and October 2019.
“Drazenovic acted as a finder of mineral extraction or exploration rights, which then served as the purported marquee assets of at least 10 different penny stock issuers and were central to the pump-and-dump frauds,” said the SEC filing.
A licensed accountant since 1998, Drazenovic was an officer and director of five public companies traded on U.S. markets. He also taught accounting and investment analysis at a private Vancouver university.
Multiple companies
The SEC said that, during the relevant period, he served as mineral property finder for Blue Eagle Lithium Inc., Black Stallion Oil and Gas Inc., Virtus Oil and Gas Corp., Gray Fox Petroleum Corp., Bison Petroleum Corp., Great American Energy Inc., American Liberty Petroleum Corp., Gold American Mining Corp., American Power Corp. and Amerilithium Corp.
In 2021, University Canada West named Drazenovic Chair of the Arts, Communications and Social Sciences Undergraduate Programs.
“George is no longer employed by University Canada West,” Bradley Fehr, UCW director of marketing and communications, told theBreaker.news. “We have no additional comment at this time.”
The CPABC website does not show any disciplinary notices against Drazenovic.
Drazenovic ran unsuccessfully for the Conservative Party in the Burnaby-Douglas federal riding in 2004 and 2006.
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