AMF investigates ex-insurance broker’s role in $1.4-million Ponzi scheme

Quebec’s securities regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), has blocked the accounts and companies of a former insurance broker as part of its investigation into an alleged $1.4-million Ponzi scheme.
Acting on the authority of an administrative tribunal, the Bureau de décision et de révision (BDR), the AMF has suspended bank accounts and three companies operated by Carole Morinville, who was a licensed insurance broker up until July 13, 2010, and her husband, Robert Diano.
The companies are forbidden to engage in any investment activities or liquidate any funds or goods in their possession.
According to the BDR’s decision, the AMF said its investigation revealed that Morinville passed herself off as a financial advisor and solicited a total of $1.49 million in investments from 28 people between 2007 and 2010.
The AMF says Morinville promised a 15% return on these investments while remaining deliberately vague about how she was investing the money.