OSC Issues Temporary ‘Cease Trade Order’ on Suspected Bitcoin MLM Scheme

The Ontario Securities Commission has released a statement warning against a company and two individuals that it says are not registered to sell securities in Ontario.

In addition to the warning, the OSC has issued a temporary ‘cease trade order’ that has halted the trading of securities by any of the entities in question. The securities commissions of other Canadian provinces, including British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia have published their own warnings to investors regarding USI Tech.

The OSC did not hold a hearing on the matter before deciding to send the stop trade order and the warning. USI Tech, Parker, and Combden will not be able to resume trading until March 1, provided that no further charges are brought against them.

The warning accuses Eleanor Parker, Casey Combden, and USI tech of a few separate suspicious activities. The first: being involved in a multi-level marketing scheme that reels Ontarian investors in and persuades them to buy Bitcon mining packages; the second, ‘trading securities without registration and without an exemption to the registration requirement contrary to the Securities Act.’ ]

Texas Ordered USI Tech to Cease and Desist

The state of Texas ordered a Cease and Desist against USI Tech in December of 2017 following an internal investigation that gathered evidence of securities fraud.

Despite the order, however, USI Tech CEO Horst Jicha announced his intentions to re-open operations within the US. In a letter to USI Tech affiliates, he wrote that “USI-Tech customers in (the US and Canada) will now be able to buy BTC packages and continue to enjoy the benefits of our product.”

The letter continued, “We are also working closely with our corporate lawyers to look at ways of resuming commission payments and continuing the referral commission for our partners in North America.”

BehindMLM reported that prior to the warning, Jorst also declared that “USI-Tech never had a problem in the USA and Canada, the authorities have been active solely through misconduct, false statements and unauthorized marketing activities of local distributors” on January 25.

The order is part of a larger crackdown by the state of Texas on crypto firms with suspicious activities. In the same month, Texas ordered controversial crypto firm BitConnect to cease and desist within the state; BitConnect has since faced a series of troubles.