A Victoria man acting as a salesperson for a real estate investment company has been ordered to pay $77,000 for misappropriating investors’ funds between 2013 to 2019.
Randolph Michael Rochefort, 70, pleaded guilty in B.C. Provincial Court in Victoria on Nov. 7 to four counts of theft over $5,000.
He was handed a conditional sentence of nearly two years and pay $77,000 to five victims.
These charges are a result of an investigation by the B.C. Securities Commission’s Criminal Investigations Branch.
According to BCSC, Rochefort worked for the real estate investment company to raise funds for a 160-acre land development in Alberta. He was entitled to keep 10 per cent of the proceeds from his sales as part of the agreement. This started in 2008.
Between 2013 and 2016, he brokered transactions for several investors who wanted to make additional investments in the company. Investors had the understanding these funds would be forwarded to the company for investment, but Rochefort used some of the funds for personal expenses and cash withdrawals.
His nearly two-year sentence will be served under house arrest and a curfew.
CHEK News
