https://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/columnists/story.html?id=20abe430-5007-42cc-9574-e433d19074abI am certainly pleased to see that regulators in B.C., Alberta and even Quebec have sounded the alarm about Langley stock hustler Rene Braconnier, who has wreaked havoc in the local market for years.
Several weeks ago, the Alberta Securities Commission issued a cease-trade order against his latest pileup-in-progress, Global 8 Environmental Technologies Inc., which trades on the dreadful OTC Bulletin Board in the United States.
Global 8's stated mission is "to provide solutions for the health and recovery of our environment" -- a statement so broad as to be meaningless.
Braconnier is neither an officer nor director, but he is the company's largest shareholder. He is also a major creditor. His nephew, Chad Burback, serves as chief financial officer; and his old crony, Edwin Kroeker, served as president and CEO until last September.
Braconnier also collects astronomical consulting fees from the company. During the year ending September 2008, the company paid him $3,231,640 US in fees. His wife, Sharon, also has a consulting contract that calls for annual payments of $222,000 Cdn, although those amount were being accrued rather than paid.
These are outrageously rich contracts for a financial basket-case. During the nine months ending June 30, Global 8 generated zero revenues and racked up $4.3 million US in losses. The company has a serious working capital deficit and negative equity.
Braconnier has been keeping the company afloat by persuading unsophisticated investors to buy shares.
One of his favourite watering holes has been Fort McMurray, Alta., where Global 8 advertises on the local Christian radio station. Braconnier himself plays the Christ card at every opportunity, including saying grace at restaurants before he lunches on prospective pigeons.
His methods are scandalous, but productive. Several investors in the Fort McMurray area have invested at the six-figure level.
Problem is, Global 8 is not registered to sell shares in Alberta or B.C., or any other place in Canada. On July 30, the ASC issued a cease-trade order against the company on grounds that it illegally sold $19.5 million worth of stock to 950 Alberta investors from May 2003 to June of this year.
The B.C. commission has also issued a cease-trade order on grounds that the company qualifies as a reporting issuer in B.C., but has not been filing the requisite disclosure documents. According to the Quebec commission, which issued a warning to investors, the B.C. commission also alleges Global 8 illegally sold $12.5 million worth of stock to about 120 investors in B.C.
Braconnier has been touting bogus environmental companies for more than 25 years, most notably with Thermo Tech Technologies Inc., which was squeezed off the Vancouver Stock Exchange in 1995 and then migrated to the bulletin board where it racked up more than $80 million US in losses. Braconnier, meanwhile, is living the life of Riley on his expansive hobby farm in Langley.