Next Level Investments took in more than $4 million of deposits from 874 investors. Most lost their entire investment in the business; some were repaid or earned what at first they thought were profits, which would later be revealed as funds from later investors.
“Staff submits, and I agree, that the investments were securities (as that term is defined in s. 1(1) of the Act) because they were ‘investment contracts, a term that is not itself defined in the Act but is used in clause (n) of the definition of ‘security’ s. 1(1) of the Act, thereby making an investment contract a security,” Moseley said in the decision document.
In determining whether it’s in the public interest to bar Uitvlugt from the capital markets as requested by staff, Moseley weighed several facts and factors, including that Uitvlugt has been sentence to five years in jail; at least 678 investors lost all their investment, with an estimated aggregate loss of $3.5 million; and his own admission in court that he was “motivated by overwhelming greed.”
“Uitvlugt has demonstrated by his conduct that he is not to be trusted,” Moseley said. “A permanent ban from the capital markets is necessary to protect investors by restraining future conduct by Uitvlugt that would be detrimental to the integrity of the capital markets.”
