CTV British Columbia
Man charged in Canadian fraud case will leave US
Our very own fraudster, on the lam for the last few years has been brought in. Ian Thow made an initial appearance in a U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon, where he was arrested on Tuesday on an extradition request from Canada. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police say Thow, 47, a U.S. citizen who lived in Victoria, British Columbia, stole C$10 million. The regulators said Thow defrauded hundreds of clients from 2003 to 2005, convincing some to sell their mutual funds and mortgage their homes to raise money for nonexistent investments including shares of a Jamaican bank.
Thow won his clients' trust by making a show of supporting charities and claiming a close relationship with prominent Canadian investor Michael Lee-Chin and then used the money to support a lavish lifestyle, according to investigators.
Thow's arrest came less than a week after his attorneys won a victory in a Canadian court, which ruled regulators had inaccurately calculated his fine for breaking securities rules at C$6 million. The fine was cut to C$225,000.
Ok, so this is more than the $10,000US fine Sir Allen paid for FINRA offences, but really, the consequences for these offences have to be meaningful and inescapable. If people are not going to have the self discipline to "be nice", then it has to hurt.
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