Province's securities commission says almost $300K taken in alleged scam

The Nova Scotia Securities Commission is investigating a man it says took almost $300,000 from three people while operating a business out of a Halifax post office box.

"The amounts that have been set out in the statement of allegations that we are alleging to have been lost are certainly significant sums to the individuals involved," said Jennie Pick, the enforcement counsel for the commission.

In July,the commission issued astatement of allegationsagainstWesley William Robinsonwhere they listed three people who came forward to say they lost money toRobinson.

The people who say they were scammed are listed in the allegations as KH, BSand JE.

KH is from Ontario and gave Robinson $25,000 Cdn for a promised 100 per cent return on their investment within two months.

BS is from Nova Scotia and invited Robinson into their home for a meeting. BS gave Robinson $188,340 Cdn in exchange for promised access to a loan of $15 million. BS did not receive access to the loan.

JE, who lived in the United States, came to Halifax to meet with Robinson in October 2018. JE gave Robinson $60,030 US in exchange for the promise of a $3-million loan. JE also didn't receive any loan money.

Return of money not sought

All three listed in the statement of allegations have been unable to get their money back.

"Unfortunately, in an administrative proceeding like this, one of the remedies that we're seeking is not to return the money to the complainants. That's outside the scope of the proceeding and what we're able to seek," Pick said.

"The commission certainly prioritizes return of monies when it can to investors, but in this administrative proceeding the penalties that are being sought include sanctions, an administrative penalty or costs."

Pick said if the securities commission hearing finds Robinson broke the Securities Act, it could impose sanctions preventing him from trading in securities in the future. An administrative penalty could be up to $1 million per contravention of the Act.

The securities commission hearing is not a criminal proceeding, and it referred questions about whether the matter could constitute a criminal act to police.

Robinson has registered a company in Nova Scotia called DRR900306 N.S. Ltd.

The registered address for DRR is a post office box inside the UPS Store on Halifax's Queen Street.

CBC attempted to contact Robinson by email and received an email back with directions to a website for a company called "Robinson Capital International LLC."

The Robinson Capital website outlineda process where people could apply to borrow money for personal projects. The process required the applicant to pay a fee of $350,000 US.

The complainants BS and JE made similar agreements with Robinson but received nothing in return.

No one from Robinson Capital responded to therequest for comment from CBC.

The public hearing of the allegations is scheduled to take place on Oct. 14-16.