Naida Allarde-Giangrosso and Bernardo Giangrosso Charged Quasi Criminally with Unregistered Trading and Breaching OSC Cease Trade Order

TORONTO – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced today that Naida Allarde-Giangrosso and Bernardo Giangrosso of Vaughan, Ontario, were charged with alleged breaches of s. 122(1)(c) of the Securities Act (Ontario) following an investigation by the OSC’s Joint Serious Offences Team (JSOT).

Allarde-Giangrosso and Giangrosso were both charged with one count of trading without registration and one count of trading in securities when they were prohibited from trading by an order of the Commission dated January 9, 2013. The charges relate to their alleged roles in promoting the sale of syndicated mortgages to investors through a company known as Starboard View Homes.

“Our Joint Serious Offences Team is sending a strong message that the OSC has elevated its efforts to prosecute allegations of quasi-criminal behaviour, including violations of cease trade orders,” said Tom Atkinson, Director of Enforcement at the OSC.

The first court appearance for Allarde-Giangrosso and Giangrosso in this matter is scheduled to take place January 15, 2014, at 11:00 a.m. in Courtroom number 111 at Old City Hall – Ontario Court of Justice, 60 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario. Allarde-Giangrosso and Giangrosso continue to be subject to a cease trade order prohibiting them from trading in securities.

JSOT was established in May 2013 by the OSC as an enforcement partnership between the OSC and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Financial Crime program. The primary objective of JSOT is to protect investors and further enhance confidence in the Canadian capital markets through effective enforcement. This will be accomplished through collaborative investigations of serious violations of the law using the provisions of the Securities Act (Ontario) and/or the Criminal Code of Canada.

Investors are urged to check the registration of any person or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at www.osc.ca

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