Federal Crown prosecutors say two of Nova Scotia’s most notorious white-collar criminals should be sentenced to 10 to 12 years in prison, prompting a judge to ask: “Where’s the body?”
Mark Covan, one of three Crown attorneys handling the criminal trial of former Knowledge House executives, admits it’s a “harsh and significant” sentence but said it’s justified given the gravity of the offence.
Yet Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Kevin Coady, who found Daniel Potter and Blois Colpitts guilty in March, questioned the lengthy sentence, saying “denunciation and deterrence doesn’t necessarily mean throwing away the key.”
READ MORE: Nova Scotia judge convicts former Knowledge House CEO, lawyer of fraud
Get breaking National news
Knowledge House was once a high-flying developer of educational software, trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange before a 2001 collapse that cost investors millions of dollars.
Defence lawyer Brian Greenspan recommended a sentence for Potter of three to four years, arguing that it has been 17 years since the Halifax e-learning company’s dramatic collapse.
He says his client has lived “under the cloud of a criminal charge” for years and the considerable toll it has taken on his life must be considered when imposing a sentence.
READ MORE: Investors gave B.C. man $452,000. He said he was a licensed day-trader, but he wasn’t
Potter and Colpitts are expected to be sentenced July 25.
In a 207-page ruling convicting the pair in March, Coady said they knowingly carried out fraudulent activities in a regulated securities market.
He said their goal was to artificially maintain the company’s stock price while securing new investors, who would make investment decisions based on a misleading impression of the stock demand.
The trial began in November 2015 and heard from 75 witnesses over more than 160 court days, and 184 exhibits were received – including thousands of documents.
- Jill Biden’s ex-husband William Stevenson charged with murder in wife’s death
- She went missing in Canada in 1985. She may have been a Florida serial murder victim
- Son of Norway’s crown princess denies rape charges as trial begins
- RCMP misconduct cases grew in 2024, dismissals increased 5-fold: report
Comments