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by Mike Caswell

Former Vancouverite Robert Hillis Miller, charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for secretly selling millions of shares of an OTC Markets listing, says that he did not profit from the sales nor did he intend to break any rules. Mr. Miller claims that he sold the stock as part of an effort to finance his company. His failure to report the sales amounted to "filing errors" and there was no intent to deceive, he contends.

The statements by Mr. Miller come as part of a case in which the SEC claimed that he improperly sold $1.39-million worth of shares in Abakan Inc., a purported metals coating company. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) The SEC said that he sold the stock in unregistered offerings between 2013 and 2015. The stock should have been subject to a hold period and unavailable for sale, as Mr. Miller was an insider. (He served as Abakan's chairman and held as much as 37.5 per cent of the company's shares.)

The size of Mr. Miller's penalty is the only matter of substance remaining in the case, as a Maryland jury previously found him liable for the sales. With that victory in hand, the SEC asked the judge to permanently ban Mr. Miller from penny stocks and from serving as an officer or director. The SEC further asked that the judge impose financial penalties totalling $1.2-million.

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