Superior Court of Justice Overturns Acquittals of Daniel Tiffin and Tiffin Financial Corporation

TORONTO – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced today that Mr. Justice Charney of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Newmarket, Ontario, overturned the acquittals of Daniel Emerson Tiffin (“Tiffin”) and Tiffin Financial Corporation (“TFC”) previously entered by the Ontario Court of Justice on August 31, 2016.

Tiffin and TFC were charged in connection with issuing promissory notes.

In his judgment of May 15, 2018, Mr. Justice Charney ruled that the $700,000 in promissory notes issued by TFC and Tiffin were securities as defined by the Securities Act noting that,

“. . . the trial judge erred in law by importing the American “family resemblance” test into Ontario securities law to determine whether the promissory notes issued by TFC were excluded from the statutory definition of “security” in the Securities Act.”

 

 

In setting aside the acquittals, Mr. Justice Charney found Tiffin and TFC guilty of trading in securities without registration as required by section 25(1) of the Securities Act; trading in securities without a prospectus as required by section 53(1) of the Securities Act, and trading in securities while prohibited by order of the OSC contrary to section 122(1)(c) of the Securities Act.

At the time they issued the promissory notes in this matter, Tiffin and TFC were subject to an ongoing cease trade order issued by the OSC in the matter of Rezwealth Financial Services Inc. In the Rezwealth proceeding, Tiffin and TFC admitted to trading and issuing securities in the form of promissory notes without registration or a prospectus, contrary to the Securities Act. Tiffin and TFC remain subject to this OSC cease trade order.

Sentencing submissions will be heard on a date yet to be determined.

The trial and appeal of this matter were conducted by staff from the OSC’s Joint Serious Offences Team (JSOT).

To date, JSOT has pursued 41 matters involving 57 accused.

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 OSC's partnership with law enforcement allows for criminal charges to be laid by JSOT members, which include police officers seconded to the OSC. Charges laid under the Criminal Code are prosecuted by the Ministry of the Attorney General.

The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair and efficient capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk.  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 www.osc.ca.

 

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