A BC man who owes more than $ 7 million in fines to the province’s financial markets regulator became the first person to face the loss of his driver’s license due to unpaid fines for securities fraud.
The executive director of the BC Securities Commission sent a notice to ICBC last year that he should not issue or renew a driver’s license for Paul Oy, who was found to have committed 63 investor fraud in 2017 by embezzling money. them.
According to the 2017 decision, Oei and the companies it controls have diverted a total of just over $ 5 million from investors’ money from the purposes they told investors they would use.
He was ordered to pay approximately $ 3.1 million – the amount he fraudulently received, less than the approximately $ 2 million paid to investors – plus a $ 4.5 million BCSC administrative fine.
The commission said in a news release Friday that Oei has not yet paid any of the approximately $ 7.6 million it owes.
Oei has asked the committee to reconsider the executive director’s decision to block his driver’s license. After a hearing, a BCSC panel announced on Friday that it had decided to confirm the decision.
The panel noted that this was the first time it had been asked to reconsider such a decision, after changes to the provincial Securities Act allowing BCSC to block the renewal of licenses came into force last year.
In an effort to overturn the CEO’s decision, Oei says he needs a driver’s license to be able to serve as his elderly father’s emergency driver. He also claims that the loss of his license will limit his ability to get a better job and therefore his ability to pay his fines.
Oei told the commission he could not pay the commission at the moment, and presented T4 slips showing revenue of approximately $ 7,000 in 2020 and $ 12,400 last year. He also referred the commission to a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada that overturned a similar law in Alberta, and questioned whether the BCSC actually had the power to ban him from keeping a driver’s license.
On the issue of legality, the commission rejected Oei’s argument, noting that Alberta’s law includes a provision that would preserve the province’s right to withhold driver’s licenses even if the debts were paid in federal bankruptcy proceedings. According to the commission, this provision has led the federal court to overturn Alberta’s law.
The BC law does not contain such a provision.
As for Oei’s other arguments, the committee agreed with the CEO that the inconvenience “is not (is) a sufficient reason not to issue a notice to ICBC”, blocking Oei from obtaining a license.
“The inconvenience is the expected result of the legal provisions,” the commission wrote, summing up the executive director’s argument.
“The purpose of these provisions is to provide the Executive Director with a mechanism to support financial recovery. It is in the public interest to apply these provisions. “
The court also noted the fact that Oei will not have to pay the money he owes in full to regain his driving license. The Securities Act allows the Executive Director to cancel a referral to ICBC at its discretion when entering into a payment agreement with a person who owes money to BCSC.
“The applicant has not paid part of the very significant amounts that remain outstanding, nor has he made any proposal for a payment plan,” the commission wrote.
“We note that the complainant does not show any remorse or responsibility for his role in the fraud and embezzlement on this issue and through his own actions and words clearly shows that he did not accept the initial findings and decision of the commission. “
Oei told the panel that he does not currently own a car. During the time he was involved in raising funds from investors, Oei drove a Bentley, according to the commission’s initial decision against him.
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