BC Securities Regulator Accuses Crypto Platform of Multimillion-Dollar Fraud

• The British Columbia Securities Commission has accused ezBtc, a defunct Nanaimo-based cryptocurrency platform, and its founder David Smillie, of perpetrating a multimillion-dollar securities fraud scheme.
• The commission alleged that Smillie and his crypto firm lied to customers about the platform and diverted their assets to online gambling sites.
• A division of the Canadian police force investigated ezBtc in 2019 but did not find enough evidence to file criminal charges.

BC Securities Regulator Accuses Defunct Crypto Platform of Committing Multimillion-Dollar Fraud

The British Columbia Securities Commission has accused ezBtc, a defunct Nanaimo-based cryptocurrency platform, and its founder David Smillie, of perpetrating a multimillion-dollar securities fraud scheme. The commission alleged that Smillie and his crypto firm lied to customers about the platform and diverted their assets to online gambling sites.

Investigations by Police Force

A division of the Canadian police force investigated ezBtc in 2019 but did not find enough evidence to file criminal charges. However, the B.C. Securities Commission is now accusing Smillie and his company of moving $13 million worth of users’ assets without authorization from owners into virtual gambling sites.

Assets Transferred Without Authorization

ezBtc ceased operations in October 2022 but 2,300 BTC and 600 ETH tokens were transferred into the platform’s wallets between 2016 and 2019 without permission from owners. Moreover, investors were led to believe their assets were kept offline in cold storage when this was not true as there weren’t enough funds available for all customers.

Platform Not Registered With BCSEC

In addition, ezBtc was never registered with the B.C. commission despite agreements with users that fell under futures contracts which are within its jurisdiction . As such ,the commission is now taking legal action against both Smillie and his company for their actions .

No Criminal Charges Filed So Far

Despite investigations by police forces , no criminal charges have been filed so far against either Smillie or his company . It remains unclear whether any further legal action will be taken as a result of this investigation by the BCSEC .