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ARTICLE · 19 JANUARY 2018

Double Jeopardy Argument Fails In Ponzi Fraud

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In R. v. Samji, 2017 BCCA 415 [Samji], the B.C. Court of Appeal decided that a $33-million administrative monetary penalty (AMP) assessed by the province's Securities Commission...

CanadaCriminal Law
Jim Schmidt
Jim Schmidt
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In R. v. Samji, 2017 BCCA 415 [Samji], the B.C. Court of Appeal decided that a $33-million administrative monetary penalty (AMP) assessed by the province's Securities Commission against a person who had run a massive Ponzi scheme was not a "true penal consequence". Therefore, the Court ruled, a parallel criminal prosecution did not expose the person to double jeopardy under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The person involved is Rashida Samji, a one-time licenced notary public in the Vancouver area. Ms. Samji operated a large-scale Ponzi scheme, involving at least $100 million, from about 2003 to 2012.

After the scheme was uncovered, Ms. Samji was subjected to proceedings before the B.C. Securities Commission. The Commission found she had committed a fraud under the province's Securities Act. It issued a disgorgement order of just over $10 million and assessed an AMP of $33 million. Its decision was never appealed.

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