TORONTO, July 9, 2024
/CNW/ - The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today
announced that Nathanael Anthony
Aikman has been sentenced to four years in jail and ordered
to pay restitution of more than $3.9
million. Mr. Aikman was sentenced in absentia on
July 24, 2024 by Justice Rondinelli of the Ontario of Justice in Toronto.
Mr. Aikman pled guilty to charges under the Securities Act
(Ontario) in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto on November 23,
2023, including one count of trading securities without
registration and one count of fraud.
Mr. Aikman's guilty plea relates to his role as a trader for
Yonge Street Capital LLC (YSC), a purported hedge fund. Between
October 27, 2016 and August 30, 2019, 71 individuals invested more
than $6.2 million in YSC. Mr. Aikman
admitted that he fabricated the returns generated from his trading
activity. A significant percentage of the money obtained by this
fraud was used by Mr. Aikman for purposes unrelated to
YSC's business, and to the detriment of investors.
Mr. Aikman was charged alongside his partners in YSC,
Syed Saad Aziz and Jazib Ali Khan.
Mr. Aziz pled guilty to one count of unregistered trading on
August 3, 2021. On February 23, 2022, Justice Botham of the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto imposed a two-year probation order. As
part of settlement agreement with the OSC, Mr. Aziz also agreed to
cease trading in securities for a period of 10 years and disgorge
$60,000.
Following a trial in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto, Mr. Khan was convicted of
unregistered trading and illegal distribution by Justice Giourgas on July
15, 2022. On November 17,
2023, Justice Giourgas
imposed a suspended sentence and a two-year probation order for Mr.
Khan.
Neither Mr. Aziz nor Mr. Khan were found guilty of
fraud.
The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors
from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair,
efficient and competitive capital markets, and confidence in the
capital markets, to foster capital formation, 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 https://www.osc.ca.
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SOURCE Ontario Securities Commission