Urban Barns Foods Inc. (URBF)

[1manband]

BCSC panel finds two B.C. men engaged in market manipulation

The British Columbia Securities Commission today determined Lim and Mugford are guilty of fraud in manipulating the price of URBF through a paid tout sheet which used fraudulent claims to convince people to buy the stock while their associate was dumping millions of shares. A classic pump and dump.

2017/47
June 6, 2017

Vancouver - A British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) panel has found that David Tuan Seng Lim and Michael Mugford engaged in market manipulation.

Lim, a Vancouver resident, was an investment advisor who was registered under the Securities Act during the relevant period. Mugford is a Lions Bay, B.C. resident, who was a client and business associate of Lim.

The panel found that Lim and Mugford engaged in a market manipulation by creating an artificial share price for a company called Urban Barns from November 2009 to February 2010.

The panel found that the respondents paid or assisted in paying a third party to run a tout sheet publishing campaign to promote the company's shares, which resulted in the artificial price. The panel described the tout sheets as "grossly promotional" and "designed to trick the reader into believing that the Urban Barns shares were worth far more than they really were."

In the same decision, the panel dismissed market manipulation allegations against Swiss wealth management firm EuroHelvetia TrustCo S.A. (now known as EHT Corporate Services S.A.), stating that there was not sufficient evidence to find that EuroHelvetia's conduct contributed to the manipulation.

The panel directed the parties to make submissions on sanctions according to the schedule set out in the findings.

You may view the findings decision on our website, www.bcsc.bc.ca, by typing David Tuan Seng Lim, Michael Mugford, EuroHelvetia TrustCo S.A. or 2017 BCSECCOM 196 in the search box. Information about disciplinary proceedings can be found in the Enforcement section of the BCSC website.

http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/Enforcement/Decisions/PDF/2017_BCSECCOM_196/