steve serenas 2019-10-09 10:59 ET - Street Wire
See Street Wire (C-TD) Toronto-Dominion Bank
by Mike Caswell
TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. has asked a judge to find one of its clients in contempt of court and send that client to jail for one week. TD says that the client has repeatedly lied and failed to co-operate with attempts to enforce an $80,000 judgment. Among other things, the client has failed to account for his $300,000 interest in an Abbotsford home, TD contends.
The request from TD comes as part a lawsuit that it filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia against Steve Serenas, the former chairman of Viridium Pacific Group Ltd. According to TD, Mr. Serenas improperly sold 214,265 Viridium shares in August, 2018, through his TD account. As it turned out, the shares were restricted, meaning they could not be traded, TD said. The firm then had to buy replacement shares in the market. This left Mr. Serenas's account with a $72,176 shortfall, an amount that he has not paid to date.
TD's contempt-of-court request comes as part of an effort by TD to collect money from Mr. Serenas to address that shortfall. When the case came for trial, Mr. Serenas agreed to an $80,000 judgment against him, with that amount including TD's court costs and interest. According to TD, Mr. Serenas has since failed to comply with that judgment and has not co-operated with TD's efforts to obtain information about his assets.
The firm sets out the trouble, and its request for a week in jail, in an application that it filed on Oct. 3, 2019, at the Vancouver courthouse. The application explains how Mr. Serenas repeatedly lied to TD as the firm was trying to collect the money. TD's lawyer questioned him about his account opening documents, in which he had listed his net worth as $2.93-million and his liquid assets at $800,000. As it turned out, he did not have any such assets, the application states. He also lied about his employment and his income, which he had listed at $180,000 per year, TD says.
Perhaps of more interest to TD is the ownership of Mr. Serenas's home, on Sandy Hill Road in Abbotsford. According to TD, title to the home is in the name of Mr. Serenas's spouse. He signed the title over to her in 2018, handing over his $300,000 interest without any consideration, TD claims. As TD sees things, Mr. Serenas's transfer of the home likely amounts to a fraudulent conveyance, or one done to avoid paying the $80,000 judgment.
TD says that Mr. Serenas's actions, done with the judgment outstanding, amount to contempt of court. He must be "coerced into compliance and full disclosure," according to the application. As a result, TD is seeking a court order that Mr. Serenas be found in contempt and that he be incarcerated for one week. TD is also asking that the judge order him to deliver the documents it requested and that he provide an affidavit verifying the full disclosure of his assets. Vancouver lawyer John Shields filed the application on TD's behalf.
For Mr. Serenas, the spat with TD is just one of the legal battles in which he is immersed. He is separately suing Viridium, which is now called Experion Holdings Ltd., over a block of 10.27 million shares. He said that he was to receive the stock for his work in the formative stages of the company. He also said that the company wrongfully dismissed him. Experion denies any wrongdoing, and the case has not yet gone to trial.
While Mr. Serenas's association with Viridium has generated considerable litigation, his departure appeared amicable enough, at least on the surface. On March 16, 2018, the company issued a news release stating that he had resigned, citing the oft-used "personal reasons" as the explanation. The resignation, however, came just three days after a shareholder said that it was seeking a change in the company's board, specifically the resignation of Mr. Serenas. The shareholder, E&R Holdings Ltd., did not set out any specific reason for the request, simply saying that "a change to the composition of the board" was "necessary for the future growth of the Corporation."
In the markets, Experion remains active. The stock closed at 17 cents Tuesday, down half a cent and well off its 52-week high of $1.15.
TD Waterhouse Canada is the brokerage arm of the Toronto-Dominion Bank.
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lawlessness propogated by bc liberals government carrying over into ndp government, land being stolen, homes stolen, police sitting on d i l do's
Posted by war soon at 2019-10-09 11:10