The British Columbia Securities Commission has barred Avtar Dhillon from participating in the province’s investment market for 20 years following his U.S. criminal convictions involving undisclosed stock sales and securities promotion.

The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) has imposed a 20-year investment market ban on Avtar Dhillon following his conviction for multiple securities-related offences in the United States. Dhillon, a Canadian citizen and U.S. permanent resident, pleaded guilty in 2022 to willfully failing to disclose stock sales, aiding and abetting the sale of unregistered securities, and participating in a conspiracy to conceal payments for securities promotion. In 2024, a U.S. federal court sentenced him to four months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, including six months of home detention. He was also ordered to forfeit nearly US$1.5 million.

Dhillon’s offences involved two separate companies and transactions spanning several years. In one scheme involving Massachusetts-based Arch Therapeutics Inc., Dhillon and his former attorney transferred 2.75 million shares beneficially owned by Dhillon into a limited liability company. They subsequently arranged for the shares to be sold on the open market without a valid exemption from securities registration requirements. The transactions generated approximately $1.34 million, with proceeds distributed primarily to third parties for Dhillon’s benefit. He deliberately failed to disclose the sales to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and investors, despite being legally required to report them.

A separate offence involved Emerald Health Sciences Inc., a Vancouver-based investment company with a majority ownership interest in San Diego-based Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals Inc. Dhillon, who previously served on Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals’ board and held an indirect ownership interest, participated in an arrangement to compensate a newsletter analyst for promoting the company’s securities offering. The payments were structured so that neither the analyst nor the publication disclosed the financial relationship to prospective investors. The offering ultimately raised tens of millions of dollars, while the undisclosed promotional arrangement violated U.S. securities laws.

Although Dhillon has lived in the United States since 2001 and currently resides in California, the BCSC determined that his activities warranted restrictions in British Columbia. The commission considered his Canadian citizenship, educational background at the University of British Columbia, and previous involvement as a director and officer of two B.C. corporations. The panel also emphasized that his misconduct involved multiple companies and occurred during separate periods more than three years apart. These circumstances led regulators to conclude that Dhillon continued to present a risk to the integrity of British Columbia’s capital markets.

Under the order, Dhillon must resign from any positions he holds as a corporate director or officer. For the next 20 years, he is prohibited from trading or purchasing securities and derivatives, subject to limited exceptions, and cannot serve as a director, officer, registrant or promoter in the investment industry. The restrictions also prevent him from providing management or consulting services connected to securities market activities or participating in securities promotions. The BCSC’s decision extends the regulatory consequences of Dhillon’s U.S. convictions to British Columbia, restricting his ability to participate in the province’s investment sector.

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Originally published on Canadian Fraud News.