RE:CLASS ACTION SUIT?? TRANSLATED ARTICLE: This is apparent from a judgment of the Administrative Court of Financial Markets (TAMF) rendered last November.
A text by Joane Brub
According to the judgment, the Qubec Autorit des marchs financiers (AMF) has filed a preponderant evidence that Pierre Gvry, founder of Orbite and president and CEO of the company from 1983 to 2007, was at the center of a major manipulation of the share price of three mining companies, Pro-Or, JAG and Orbite.
Who is Pierre Gvry?
Pierre Gvry worked for 22 years in a bank before embarking on mining exploration in the 1980s.
In 1983, he founded Exploration Orbite VSPA. The company was going to bet on its property rights of the Grande-Valle argillaceous alumina site, in Gaspsie, to ensure its development.
Pierre Gvry ceded his position as CEO of Orbite in 2009.
At the time of his appearance before the TAMF, Pierre Gvry was still president and CEO of the mining company JAG. He was also founder of Pro-Or.
The Tribunal, which speaks of serious breaches of the Securities Act, considers that the founder of Orbite was the driving force of these three companies and that he raised $ 235,700 through a ploy that during 2004 to 2013.
A two-part ploy
The first component of this scheme was to solicit and raise funds for the three mining companies, including Orbite, through private placement of flow-through or non-flow-through shares in contravention of the Securities Act, the illegal exercise of which of the brokerage business and placement without prospectus.
Brokers exchange shares.
Brokers exchange shares. Photo: iStock
The businessman agreed that he had solicited and interested, between 2004 and 2013, six investors to participate in fifteen private placements by companies Pro-Gold, JAG and Orbite.
Pierre Gvry also admitted to having made 15 investments without a prospectus and to have provided 13 false or misleading information to the AMT on the occasion of the filing of investment declarations.
Second, the aim was to artificially maintain the stock prices of the companies in question to attract investors to the primary market and reap their savings through private placements illegally solicited.
Two people, including a co-accused, testified to this effect during the appearance of Pierre Gvry. Alain Valiquette, who was fined $ 12,000 in this story, said he received instructions from Pierre Gvry to manipulate the value of the securities of Pro-Or, JAG and Orbite.
The objective of these transactions was, among other things, to reduce the volatility of the price of a low-security security by artificially keeping its value within a pre-established price range, either to attract investors or to facilitate private placements.
Toronto Stock Exchange Strip
The S & P / TSX Toronto Stock Exchange Photo: The Canadian Press / Frank Gunn
These manipulations may have artificially inflated or lowered the value of the securities.
Mr. Valiquette, who was also a recruiter for potential investors, received about $ 500,000 from Pro-Or, JAG and Orbite for handling the securities of these companies.
According to him, the shareholders of these companies have lost millions of dollars believing the false news conveyed by the management.
Mr. Valiquette told the court that he did not know that these actions were against the law.
He said that he had asked for the resignation of the respondent Pierre Gvry in 2010 considered as the "big manitou" behind the ploy. He has been unemployed for three years. The court prohibited him from conducting any activity with a view to carrying out a securities transaction.
In court, Pierre Gvry denied giving any instructions to Alain Valiquette concerning the purchase or sale of shares and never asking anyone to maintain the price of the securities of the companies Pro-Or, JAG and Orbite in order to favor the realization of private placements.
Stock changes
The shares of these three companies were trading at the time of the alleged events on the TSX Venture Exchange. It was during this period that the title of Orbit reached new heights.
The stock, which remained below $ 0.50 from the fall of 2014, for example, reached $ 4.47 in April 2011 and was selling around $ 3 in the spring of 2012.
On a number of occasions during this period, the Autorit des marchs financiers issued cease trade orders. The AMF refuses to associate the variations of the title with the results of its investigation concerning Mr. Gvry.
Autorit des marchs financiers
The Autorit des marchs financiers Photo: Radio-Canada
The Authority will also not comment on the case since the man