The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) has issued a permanent market ban against Ontario resident Charles DeBono, following a criminal court finding that he operated a Ponzi scheme. An ASC panel found it was in the public interest to make the order under the Securities Act (Alberta), citing the seriousness of the fraud and the need for deterrence and investor protection. DeBono was sentenced in June 2022 by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to seven years in jail and ordered to pay restitution of more than CAD 26 million after pleading guilty to fraud over CAD 5,000 and laundering the proceeds of crime. The court found that, between January 2013 and August 2017, DeBono raised up to CAD 48 million from more than 500 investors, including over 100 Albertans, through Debit Direct, which purported to sell point of sale debit terminals but was not a legitimate business. The ASC order dated February 12, 2025 requires DeBono to permanently cease trading in or purchasing securities or derivatives, with all Alberta exemptions no longer available to him; resign any positions he holds and permanently refrain from acting as a director or officer of a range of market entities; and permanently refrain from investor relations, advising, registration, investment fund management or promotional activity, and from acting in a management or consultative capacity in connection with securities market activities.

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