RE:New Venture Vancouver promoter Steve Bajic, facing civil charges in the United States for a $42-million scheme, has struck a deal to partly roll back an asset freeze. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has allowed him access to a handful of accounts at banks and brokerages in Canada. It is not clear how much money the SEC has released, but Mr. Bajic had requested enough to hire a lawyer and meet reasonable living expenses.
Mr. Bajic's deal on the asset freeze comes as part of a case in which the SEC claims that he and others helped with the illegal sale of shares in at least 45 companies. According to the SEC, he and the others provided insiders with a "layer of disguise," allowing them to secretly sell shares on the market. Over a four-year period, the scheme generated $42-million, the SEC claims.
At the outset of the case, the SEC obtained a court order that froze scores of bank and brokerage accounts in Canada, the U.S. and overseas. Included in the order were accounts held at TD Canada Trust and at Vancouver brokerage Haywood Securities Inc. in Mr. Bajic's name. (The order also applied to many accounts held by private entities.)