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by Mike Caswell

A New York judge has declined, for now at least, to impose any fines or other sanctions against Canadian Raymond Dove for his part in a Colombian boiler room. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claimed that Mr. Dove, along with Vancouver's Frank Biller, helped hidden insiders unload millions of shares. Their scheme generated $58.3-million in illegal gains, according to the SEC. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.)

There has yet to be a trial in the case, with the defendants having ignored the matter so far. As a result, the SEC had asked the judge to impose fines and other sanctions against Mr. Dove totalling $5.93-million. The penalties would have been by default, as Mr. Dove had not responded to the case, despite being served.

The judge, however, has declined to impose those sanctions. The reasons are found in a ruling handed on Monday, Feb. 6, in federal court in New York. The denial is rooted in the SEC's failure to proceed against another defendant, Mr. Biller. If the judge were to impose fines and other penalties against Mr. Dove, the case would have been effectively decided in the SEC's favour. There would still be a chance that Mr. Biller could successfully defend the case, however. Should that happen, the judge would then be in a position of having to make different findings against two defendants for the same "inextricably intertwined" events.

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