Calgary fraudster gets seven-year sentence

A securities fraudster has been sentenced to seven years in jail by an Alberta judge and ordered to pay more than $2 million in restitution to victims.

William Jordan McBean from Calgary was convicted in January of 12 counts of fraud over $5,000. The charges were in connection with a scheme that defrauded 11 victims out of over $2 million in fees that the victims allegedly paid to access billions of dollars in financing, “which never materialized.” Separately, another victim was defrauded out of US$425,035.

The charges followed an investigation by Alberta’s Joint Serious Offences Team (JSOT), which includes staff of the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) and the Alberta RCMP Federal Policing Integrated Market Enforcement Team, along with provincial prosecutors.

“McBean’s fraud was devastating to his victims, some of whom have suffered serious psychological, health and financial harm,” said Cynthia Campbell, director of enforcement at the ASC, in a release.

On May 31, Justice W. Patrick Sullivan of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta sentenced McBean to seven years in prison, ordered him to pay $1.63 million and US$424,000 in restitution to his victims, and prohibited him from taking a job or volunteer position involving finances for 12 years.

“The seven-year jail term McBean received is the lengthiest sentence imposed to date in a JSOT case in Alberta, and reflects the gravity of his crimes. The ASC, through our JSOT partnership, is committed to holding those who prey on investors accountable,” Campbell said.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.