Varandeep Singh Grewal, a British Columbia resident, has agreed to pay C$500,000 to the BC Securities Commission (BCSC) for violating securities laws related to a mineral exploration startup. The BCSC has also banned Grewal from certain investment market activities for 10 years.
Grewal, a shareholder in a company claiming to be a mineral exploration startup, engaged in investor relations activities that misrepresented the company’s operations and capabilities. Over two months in 2018, he helped arrange for a third-party investor relations provider to publish misleading information about the company.
The false claims included statements that the company was rapidly assembling operations, actively mining and producing a mineral, and possessed a state-of-the-art, environmental-friendly mining technology. In reality, the company remained in the exploration phase, lacked the claimed operations and technology, was not producing any minerals, and did not own the pre-existing infrastructure on its property, the Commission found.
By facilitating the dissemination of these misleading statements, Grewal violated the Securities Act’s prohibition on misrepresentations. The BCSC noted that this was Grewal’s first offense and involved a single issuer over a short period.
In addition to the financial penalty, Grewal accepted a 10-year ban on various investment market activities. He cannot act as a registrant or promoter, nor serve in management or consultative roles related to securities or derivatives markets.
This case highlights the BCSC’s ongoing efforts to maintain the integrity of BC’s mining investment sector and protect investors from misleading claims about mineral exploration and production capabilities. The Commission’s action against Grewal serves as a reminder of the serious consequences for disseminating false or misleading information in the mining industry, even when done indirectly through third-party promoters.
More information is posted at www.Bcsc.bc.ca
