A St. John’s woman has been found in serious violation of the rules for investment advisors and companies in Canada.
Joan McCarthy, 54, was a financial advisor with the St. John’s branch of MD Management, which caters to investment planning for doctors.
Red flags first went up in 2019, with the federal Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada opening an investigation in June of that year.
Since then, disciplinary hearings have come and gone with neither McCarthy nor her lawyer showing up for any of them. Nor have they provided any of the documents requested by the regulator.
Yesterday, despite her absence, the hearing panel accepted the allegations as fact; namely, that she funneled nearly $800,000 in clients’ money to her own bank account by forging signatures, and failed to cooperate with the investigation.
At the same time yesterday, the criminal case against McCarthy was called in provincial court. There she faces 24 charges in total; six each of fraud over $5,000, forgery, uttering forged documents and possessing property obtained by crime.
Her lawyer, John Duggan, was in court on her behalf but declined comment on any aspect of the case, which was postponed again until early January.
Convictions there could lead to jail time and restitution orders.
Meanwhile, the federal regulator will now consider penalties for McCarthy, which can range from fines to permanent expulsion from the industry.