Directors of collapsed investment firms to face prosecution for criminality

Directors and managers of the now-defunct fund management companies, whose negligence and inactions caused the collapse of the firms, are to face prosecution.

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it has already gathered evidence against some directors and will push for a docket to be built and forwarded to the Attorney General for prosecution.

Deputy Director of SEC, Paul Ababio, announce this on TV3 Business Focus Monday noted “we had to make a determination as to what extent was it through negligence of the directors, to what extent do we find criminal offences. Some of that we have evidence already.”

SEC last Friday revoked the licences 53 fund management companies in the country for breaches the laws regulating their operations.

Among other infractions, SEC said the firms “largely failed to return client funds” which remain locked up and in a number of cases.

Addressing the issues leading to the revocation of the licences and the way forward, Mr Ababio said while some inaction may require prosecution, others will attract sanctions.

“Where we find evidence of misdemeanour, in some instances, we ourselves will issue sanctions; they can be private or public sanctions. We can also apply some fines if we find certain actions that are worth applying fines to individuals and for areas that involve criminality and fraud, we will forward those dockets to the Attorney General to also prosecute those cases,” he said.

He declined to give the number of persons and firms perceived to have perpetrated fraud, saying “I cannot disclose that because we are still in the process of finalising our dockets”.

“We will push to prepare docket to the Attorney General to have them prosecuted. When our docket is ready we will disclose what is filed and what is ongoing” he added.

Meanwhile, Mr Ababio has explained the action was taken with the ultimate aim of protecting investors.

According to him, SEC will apply to the Registrar General for the affected firms to be liquidated, now that the regulatory processes have been concluded.

The Registrar General, he said, will have to make a determination on the status of these firms after which a court action will be sought to finalise the liquidation processes.