The chief executive officer of a defunct wireless company that was formerly based in Abbotsford has been banned from trading securities for 20 years.
The B.C. Securities Commission (BCSC) released its settlement agreement with Gregory Clark Carrington of Abbotsford last Friday.
Carrington, 64, was the CEO and president of WebNet Converged Wireless Networks Ltd., WebNet Broadcasting Corporation, WebNet Global Capital Partners Ltd., and 3dh Capital Ltd.
All four companies were based on Trethewey Street in Abbotsford until briefly moving to Aldergrove in July 2008.
The agreement states that the companies contravened BCSC laws when they distributed sloppy documents to investors.
Among the deficiencies noted by the BCSC were that some of the “offering memoranda” had inaccurate or missing financial statements, did not properly disclose short- and long-term objectives, and did not “adequately disclose material agreements.”
The BCSC stated that WebNet raised about $8.74 million from 916 investors in B.C., several other provinces, and the U.S.
Carrington’s liabilities “significantly exceed his assets,” according to the BCSC.
He would have been issued a $100,000 fine, but “he has no reasonable prospect of being able to pay (it),” the commission stated.
It is not known how much Carrington owes to investors and former employees.
The BSCS ordered in January 2008 that WebNet Global Capital Partners Ltd. cease trading.
The cease trade order was issued to the other three companies in June of that year.
The following month, WebNet laid off more than 100 employees without notice, and suspended its broadband wireless network, high-speed Internet and Internet phone service.
At the time, Carrington told The Abbotsford News that a number of “unscrupulous people” had not paid the company, leaving it in a financial crunch.
Several employees complained publicly that they had not been paid for their last few weeks of work.
WebNet then moved to a smaller office on 262 Street in Aldergrove with 12 employees, while Carrington stated the company was re-organizing. The business has since shut down.
In addition to the 20-year ban in trading securities, Carrington is prohibited from becoming or acting as a director or officer of any issuer, from acting as a manager or consultant in the securities market, and from engaging in investor relations.
An online profile of Carrington identifies him as an “independent computer software professional” who is now retired.