Superior Court of Justice sentences Daniel Tiffin to jail

TORONTO - The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced today that Mr. Justice Charney of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Newmarket, Ontario, sentenced Daniel Emerson Tiffin (“Tiffin”) to six months in jail for Securities Act offences.

Tiffin was ordered to pay $624,500 in restitution to seven investors who purchased promissory notes issued by his company Tiffin Financial Corporation (“TFC”). Tiffin is also restricted from trading in securities for two years under a probation order.

In imposing the sentence, Justice Charney wrote that it is required that “persons who violate the Securities Act understand that serious penalties will be imposed on individuals who abuse their position of trust and violate the law.”

Tiffin and TFC were acquitted by the Ontario Court of Justice on August 31, 2016. Justice Charney overturned the acquittals on May 15, 2018 and 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.

The investigation, trial and appeal of this matter were conducted by staff from the OSC’s Joint Serious Offences Team (JSOT). To date, JSOT has pursued 42 matters involving 58 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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