Bridging Finance executives David and Natasha Sharpe committed fraud, OSC tribunal rules #CashNews.co

David and Natasha Sharpe, the husband and wife who ran Bridging Finance Inc., were found guilty of fraud by Ontario’s Capital Markets Tribunal after adjudicators ruled the executives received kickbacks and other benefits from underwriting loans with investor money.

The Tribunal is an independent division of the Ontario Securities Commission and can impose penalties under the Ontario Securities Act. A hearing to consider costs and sanctions against the Sharpes, as well against Andrew Mushore, Bridging Finance’s former chief compliance officer who “indirectly participated” in the fraud, will be held no later than Dec. 6, the Tribunal said.

Bridging Finance was put under a court-ordered receivership in April, 2021, after allegations that the money manager improperly used investor funds to benefit some of its founders and executives. The OSC took formal action against the Sharpes and Mr. Mushore in March, 2022, and the Tribunal’s hearings into these allegations started in June, 2023, more than two years after the receivership rocked Bay Street.

Bridging specialized in making short-term loans to high-risk borrowers, and every major bank and independent brokerage in Canada sold its funds. At the time of its receivership, Bridging managed $2.09-billion on behalf of 26,000 investors, many of them retail investors. The receiver, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, has estimated investor losses at $1.3-billion, close to two-thirds of all money put in.

More to come.