Former Calgary advisor faces fraud charges

A former financial advisor in Calgary is facing criminal charges for alleged unauthorized trading.

The Alberta RCMP Integrated Market Enforcement Team (IMET) said a former advisor, Jeffrey Ber, 38, has been charged with two counts of fraud (over $5,000) and one count of receiving a secret commission.

The allegations have not been proven.

Ber is scheduled to appear in provincial court in Calgary on July 19.

The RCMP said the charges follow “an extensive investigation” based on a referral from the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC), which “revealed that Ber conducted trades in client accounts without their knowledge and without discretionary authority.”

Specifically, it alleged that, in some cases, Ber sold clients’ blue chip stocks to purchase penny stocks.

“The investigation revealed that Ber received a secret commission from a company for his placement of its shares into his clients’ portfolios,” it said.

Police didn’t release further details on the case.

Regulatory records indicate that Ber was most recently registered with TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. until April 2017. Prior to that, he was registered with Scotia Capital Inc. and CIBC Investor Services Inc.

“The lengthy and laborious work by investigators, combined with the assistance of and collaboration with our partners, has successfully brought this matter before the courts,” said inspector Charlene O’Neill, officer in charge of the Calgary IMET, in a release.

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.