The province’s agency that regulates securities laws has accused a religious organization working in Alberta and B.C. of lying to investors about a failed investment program.
The Alberta Securities Commission alleges that the Alberta-B.C. District of the Lutheran Church of Canada withheld key information from investors about a program that gathered over $130M before they went into bankruptcy protection in 2015.
Officials say that the District and five of its members knew or should have known that what they were telling investors was false because they failed to tell them about how their money would be used and the risks involved.
The ASC says the organization invested a great deal of money in support of Encharis, a multi-dimension seniors’ project located east of Calgary but never told investors about how much was being invested there.
It also withheld information about persistent loan defaults and cash-flow problems.
The ASC has now scheduled a hearing to take place in August.
