REGINA – Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan (FCAA) has ordered Landbankers International to cease trading in the province.
FCAA also ordered Landbankers to stop advising Saskatchewan residents on securities, trades or exchange contarcts and issued fines totalling more than $50,000.
The decision comes after an investigation showed Landbankers raised $3 million in the province to allegedly develop approximately 6.3 kilometres of beachfront property near a turtle sanctuary on the west coast of Mexico south of Puerto Vallarta.
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The development was being promoted as including condominiums, a Jack Nicklaus designed golf course, an airport and a marina.
FCAA said Landbankers contravened Saskatchewan securities laws by failing to register in any capacity, not claiming any exemptions, and by claiming that the securities they sold would be listed on an exchange and would have a certain future value.
Kelly Friesen, formerly of Warman and Sonja McAdam, formerly of Christopher Lake, sold Landbankers securities to Saskatchewan residents without being registered to trade or advise in securities in the province.
Under terms of a March 2013 settlement with FCAA, Friesen was fined $50,000 and McAdams $4,500. Both also agreed to cease acquiring, trading or advising Saskatchewan residents in security matters.
They are also banned from working in any capacity to security trading in Saskatchewan and acting as a director or officer of an issuer, registrant or investment fund manager.
An additional $2 million is believed to have been raised in other provinces and both Alberta and New Brunswick security regulators have issued cease trading orders against Landbankers, Friesen and McAdam.
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