A Vancouver-based blockchain technology investment firm and three of its executives have been accused of misleading the public about the amount of money it raised from private investors in 2018.
Allegations from the British Columbia Securities Commission — the province’s financial market regulator — have not been proven.
According to BCSC, BLOK Technologies Inc. issued a news release in 2018 saying it had raised approximately $5.4 million through private placements. However, the company did not disclose that it owes about $4.4 million in consulting fees, meaning it will retain less than $1 million — or 18 percent — of the total amount raised.
“The BCSC alleges that BLOK, which is traded on the Canadian Stock Exchange, made statements to investors that it knew, or should have known, were misrepresentations to investors and in violation of the Securities Act,” the commission said in a statement Thursday. .
The accusations also apply to BLOK president and CEO Robert Earle Dawson, vice president and director James Joseph Hyland, and chief financial officer David Malcolm Alexander, all of whom BCSC said “authorized, permitted or consented” to the misrepresentation.
The accused parties must come to the BCSC office on October 13 if they want to be heard. before a hearing is scheduled on the matter.
