News Release
David Del Bianco sentenced to 4.5 years in jail for fraud and money laundering
Dec 20, 2023
CALGARY – December 20, 2023 – The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) and the Alberta RCMP Federal Policing Integrated Market Enforcement Team (IMET) announce that David Del Bianco of Calgary was sentenced to four years and six months in jail by the Honourable Justice N.E. Devlin of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta on December 18, 2023.
Following an investigation by the Joint Serious Offences Team (JSOT) and a subsequent trial in the Court of King’s Bench, Del Bianco was convicted in July 2023 of one count of fraud over $5,000 and one count of laundering the proceeds of crime under the Criminal Code. Del Bianco ran and promoted an investment purporting to be a legal services insurance company, marketed under the name Equal Rights. In reality, it was nothing but a scheme, through which the Court found that Del Bianco defrauded investors of no less than $523,832.50.
In his sentencing decision, Justice Devlin noted that Del Bianco was “an utterly remorseless fraudster” and that he “continued with a scheme he had repeatedly been told was unlawful, causing profound harm to a highly vulnerable set of victims.”
Del Bianco was sentenced to 4.5 years imprisonment on the fraud conviction, less credit for time already served, and one year to be served concurrently on the money laundering conviction. His sentence includes an order to pay restitution in the amount of $229,138 to seven investors. The Court also ordered that Del Bianco is barred, for a period of 10 years, from seeking or holding a position that involves authority over the property, money or valuable security of any other person.
“Despite previous enforcement actions by the Alberta Securities Commission, David Del Bianco has continued to spin his web of lies to innocent, trusting people. Del Bianco’s deceits have caused significant financial and psychological harm to his victims,” said Cynthia Campbell, Director of Enforcement at the ASC. “The ASC, through our JSOT partnership, is committed to holding Del Bianco and others who repeatedly prey on investors accountable through the criminal courts.”
A copy of the Reasons for Judgment and sentencing decision are available on the ASC website at asc.ca.
JSOT gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), Grande Prairie RCMP detachment, Calgary Police Service and Lethbridge Police Service in this matter. JSOT is an enforcement partnership between the ASC and IMET. JSOT investigates and prosecutes quasi-criminal cases under the Securities Act (Alberta) and certain securities-related criminal offences under the Criminal Code. In particular, JSOT targets repeat offenders, serious frauds and breaches of ASC or court orders and bans. The primary objective is to protect investors and further enhance confidence in the Alberta capital market through collaborative investigations and prosecutions of serious violations of the law using the provisions of the Securities Act (Alberta) or the Criminal Code.
The ASC is the regulatory agency responsible for administering the province's securities laws. It is entrusted with fostering a fair and efficient capital market in Alberta and with protecting investors. As a member of the Canadian Securities Administrators, the ASC works to improve, coordinate and harmonize the regulation of Canada's capital markets.
IMET is a specialized unit under the Alberta RCMP Federal Policing program that detects, investigates, and deters market fraud. IMET works closely with the ASC to protect investors and further enhance confidence in Canada’s capital markets.
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Tanja McMorris
Alberta Securities Commission
media@asc.ca
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