Carlos Da Silva pleads guilty to two counts under the Criminal Code

TORONTO, Nov. 23, 2017 /CNW/ - The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced today that on November 20, 2017, Carlos Da Silva pled guilty before Madam Justice Hawke of the Ontario Court of Justice in Brampton, Ontario, to disobeying a court order and being unlawfully at large, both contrary to the Criminal Code.

These charges follow the release of Da Silva, pending the outcome of his appeal of the convictions and sentence imposed by Mr. Justice Duncan of the Ontario Court of Justice for illegally trading in securities of Equity Capital Management ("ECM") contrary to the Securities Act (Ontario).

On June 15, 2015, Mr. Justice Duncan sentenced Da Silva to three months in jail followed by probation for 18 months and 125 hours of community service. Shortly thereafter, Da Silva was released from custody pending appeal of this judgment to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

On July 27, 2017, Mr. Justice Ricchetti of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice rejected Da Silva's appeal of Mr. Justice Duncan's judgment.  Following this ruling, Da Silva failed to surrender as required by a court order issued by Mr. Justice Ricchetti.

In violation of the terms of his release pending appeal and the order of Mr. Justice Ricchetti, Da Silva left the country.

Upon his subsequent return to Canada, he surrendered himself into custody to serve the remainder of his sentence for violations of the Securities Act (Ontario) and to address new Criminal Code charges laid by members of the OSC's Joint Serious Offences Team (JSOT).  

Mr. Da Silva is the subject of a permanent cease trade order by the OSC, with some narrow exceptions. 

Sentencing for Da Silva in this matter is scheduled to take place on January 29, 2018 at the A. Grenville and William Davis Courthouse located at 7755 Hurontario Street in Brampton, Ontario.

JSOT was established by the OSC as an enforcement partnership between the OSC, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Financial Crime program and the Ontario Provincial Police Anti-Rackets Branch. The primary objective of JSOT is to protect investors and further enhance confidence in the Canadian capital markets through effective enforcement. This is accomplished through collaborative investigations of serious violations of the law using the provisions of the Securities Act or the Criminal Code. 

The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices and to foster fair and efficient capital markets and confidence in the capital markets. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at http://www.osc.gov.on.ca

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SOURCE Ontario Securities Commission