§ 01The brief
The client was cold-called by an 'account manager' and over nine months deposited $1,080,000, some by credit card and most by wire. The broker's licence number belonged to a different firm.
§ 02What I did
- 1.
Confirmed the broker was unlicensed and that its claimed licence belonged to another company.
- 2.
Filed card disputes for the in-time deposits as services not provided, and asked the bank to recall the most recent wire.
- 3.
Filed the CCS report and a complaint with the provincial securities regulator.
§ 03The outcome
Card disputes returned $145,000 and the bank recall returned $81,000. Earlier wires had gone overseas and could not be recovered.