Alvinder Singh Gill.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK: Alvinder Gill Sun Life Financial Advisor
July 22, 2023 – 6:00 PM
A BC financial advisor accused of fraud for taking $330,000 from a senior couple is still not facing criminal charges two and a half years after the regulator reported him to the police.
Former Abbotsford Sun Life financial planner Alvinder Singh Gill stands accused of setting up a company and then using fake documents as he took $329,625 from a retired couple over a nine-year period.
In 2020, when the couple asked to cash out their investment, Gill told them he’d lost most of it and the couple reported him to Sun Life.
The Insurance Council of BC then canceled his insurance agent license and according to a public notice from October 2020, reported the matter to law enforcement.
Gill resigned from Sun Life on Oct. 20, 2020, the day his insurance license was canned.
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Both the Insurance Council of BC and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada are taking regulatory action against Gill and both have hearings scheduled this fall.
However, while the Insurance Council says his conduct is “in the nature of theft and fraud” he has not been charged criminally.
Abbotsford Police didn’t respond to iNFOnews.ca when asked about the case.
The Mutual Fund Dealers Association of Canada has a detailed explanation of his actions. The Notice says in 2009 Gill set up Greynote Group Financial Services with him as the sole proprietor and without telling his employer Sun Life.
The following year he met the retired senior couple through a mutual friend and they asked him to manage their investments.
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He then told them he had a commercial real estate “trust fund investment” through Canada Life with no risk and a seven per cent annual return.
Over the next nine years, Gill took almost $330,000 from the couple for the “fictitious” investment.
The Notice of Hearing shows the couple made 18 payments to Gill ranging from $30,000 to $2,500 over the nine years.
In turn, he presented the couple with fictitious account statements about their investment.
The Hearing Notice says that in 2019, Gill told the couple that in order to continue with the investment, they needed to put in more money.
The couple refused and asked that Gill liquidate the investment and return their cash.
Gill then told them he’d invested their money in “a few riskier investments” and had lost 75% of it.
The couple threatened legal action and Gill said he’d get their money in 30 days.
When he didn’t, they reported him to Sun Life only to be told the investment wasn’t real and the account statements were fakes.
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The regulator says Gill was registered with Sun Life Financial Investment Services from 2001 to 2008 and again from 2016 to 2020.
Along with the accusation that Gill “misappropriated” the couple’s money, the regulator also accuses him of providing fictitious account documents, working outside of his license, and not cooperating with the Mutual Fund Dealers’ staff during the investigation.
The regulator says Gill has refused to hand over paperwork, and while he attended three interviews, he then “failed or refused” to answer questions.
“Staff has not been able to determine the full nature and extent of (Gill’s) conduct… including the full extent of his dealings with (the couple) and whether he was engaged in similar misconduct with other clients or individuals,” the notice said.
Gill is scheduled for a hearing in November and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association says he could face a fine equal to three times the profit he obtained.
However, whether Gill will be charged with fraud remains to be seen.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
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