Hedge fund founder sentenced to jail for Securities Act Offences

TORONTO – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today announced that Nathanael Anthony Aikman has been sentenced to four years in jail and ordered to pay restitution of more than $3.9 million. Mr. Aikman was sentenced in absentia on July 8, 2024 by Justice Rondinelli of the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto.

Mr. Aikman pled guilty to charges under the Securities Act (Ontario) in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto on November 23, 2023, including one count of trading securities without registration and one count of fraud.

Mr. Aikman’s guilty plea relates to his role as a trader for Yonge Street Capital LLC (YSC), a purported hedge fund. Between October 27, 2016 and August 30, 2019, 71 individuals invested more than $6.2 million in YSC. Mr. Aikman admitted that he fabricated the returns generated from his trading activity. A significant percentage of the money obtained by this fraud was used by Mr. Aikman for purposes unrelated to YSC’s business, and to the detriment of investors.

Mr. Aikman was charged alongside his partners in YSC, Syed Saad Aziz and Jazib Ali Khan.

Mr. Aziz pled guilty to one count of unregistered trading on August 3, 2021. On February 23, 2022, Justice Botham of the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto imposed a two-year probation order. As part of settlement agreement with the OSC, Mr. Aziz also agreed to cease trading in securities for a period of 10 years and disgorge $60,000.

Following a trial in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto, Mr. Khan was convicted of unregistered trading and illegal distribution by Justice Giourgas on July 15, 2022. On November 17, 2023, Justice Giourgas imposed a suspended sentence and a two-year probation order for Mr. Khan.

Neither Mr. Aziz nor Mr. Khan were found guilty of fraud.

The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair, efficient and competitive capital markets, and confidence in the capital markets, to foster capital formation, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at https://www.osc.ca.

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