The Vancouver Sun reports in its Thursday edition that the B.C. Securities Commission has levied millions of dollars in penalties against a high-profile businessman who touted his political connections to investors before regulators ruled he was the mastermind of a fraud. The Sun's Dan Fumano writes that the BCSC found in December that Paul Se Hui Oei used his various companies to divert 63 investments totalling more than $5-million. In a sanctions decision handed down Wednesday, the commission ordered Mr. Oei and his Canadian Manu Immigration and Financial Services to pay penalties totalling $5.5-million and to repay $3.1-million to investors. Mr. Oei was permanently banned from the securities markets. "Oei was clearly the mastermind of the fraud perpetrated on the investors," the panel wrote. Mr. Oei gained the confidence of Chinese investors by promoting his connections to politicians such as former B.C. premier Christy Clark and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Last year, the securities commission heard that Mr. Oei had investors transfer money into a legal trust at Peschisolido & Company, a Richmond law firm that was then directed by lawyer Joe Peschisolido, now the Liberal MP for Steveston-Richmond East.