The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) is alleging that two North Vancouver people and one West Vancouver resident defrauded two investors of $600,000.
The commission said John Sand and Jolyon Charles Christopher Gulston of West Vancouver and Karol Achs of North Vancouver told the investors that there were orders to purchase zinc-air fuel cell batteries and that their funds would be used to build a facility to produce the batteries.
However, the commission said, there were no such orders. It alleges Sand, Gulston and Achs used some $430,000 of the funds for other purposes, including cash withdrawals, credit card payments and payments to themselves as well as others.
“By doing so, the BCSC alleges that they committed fraud under the Securities Act,” the commission said.
The BCSC also alleges that Gulston made false or misleading statements to two other potential investors including that there were orders for the batteries; there were enough orders for several years of battery production; that battery production would begin, or was expected to begin, within a couple of months; and there was already a profitable assembly plant for the batteries in Washington State, which was being duplicated in Vancouver.
The allegations have not been proven.
The commission will schedule a hearing date in January 2021.
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