Preferred region



How does this work?

A mutual fund advisor who worked in the Mississauga area is banned from the industry for life.

Leszek Dziadecki worked at Global Maxfin Investments Inc. and was owner and president of Advantage Group of Finance Inc. from 2004 to 2018 in the Mississauga area, according to Investment Regulatory Organization of Canada hearing documents.

A regulator hearing panel found Dziadecki guilty of misconduct earlier this year and the Financial Markets Tribunal upheld the decision on October 23.

Its clients suffered losses of more than $1.3 million, according to the reasons for the decision of the Investment Regulatory Organization of Canada.

The regulator said Dziadecki “preyed” on investors who trusted him because they were part of the same Polish community. He was also a branch manager, which earned him trust as a knowledgeable and reliable financial advisor.

In 2015, Dziadecki repeatedly encouraged clients to invest in a company called BioNorth SMI, repeatedly reassuring them that the investment was “guaranteed and virtually risk-free.”

BioNorth SMI was not authorized to sell under Global Maxfin Investments Inc.

A client took out two mortgages on a house as an investment. Another used her savings in her TFSA account to invest in BioNorth SMI.

The investment was not safe and in total the clients lost $1,378,200. The losses were “devastating, psychologically and financially,” according to the reasons for the decision. One person had to delay retirement to pay off their mortgage and another had to sell their house. One client described herself as “destroyed.”

The hearing panel concluded that Dziadecki engaged in misconduct in anticipation of future panels.

This was not the first time Dziadecki was involved in misconduct. In 2006, he was found guilty of the same misconduct after selling $200,000 worth of debentures, without his company’s approval, for a company operated by Edward Tsang. Investors suffered no loss in this matter.

Tsang also contacted Dziadecki about BioNorth SMI.

Dziadecki denied any wrongdoing and took the matter to the Capital Markets Court.

The Capital Markets Tribunal upheld earlier rulings and rejected Dziadecki’s application on October 23.

Dziadecki was permanently banned from engaging in securities-related activities in any capacity and fined $300,000.

For more information, see the documents here.

Main photo: KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA

INsauga Editorial Standards and Policies