Dominic Lacroix still guilty of contempt

Dominic Lacroix, who is at the heart of a financial investigation, does not cooperate with the court according to the judge Dumais.

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July 12, 2019 17h29

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Dominic Lacroix still guilty of contempt

Isabelle Mathieu

The Sun

“Lying, hiding, inconsistency, flip-flopping accumulate in the court room. The credibility of Dominic Lacroix is null and void.”

In a judgment which the tone could hardly be more scathing, judge Daniel Dumais of the superior Court condemns businessman Dominic Lacroix on three of four criminal charges of contempt of court leveled against him.

The financial markets Authority (AMF) is conducting an investigation since that Lacroix, a contractor specializing in investments and personal loans, has invented a virtual currency, the PlexCoin. Lacroix has sold this cryptomonnaie to thousands of investors and earned several million dollars.

Since the summer of 2017, the AMF has obtained various court orders for freezing the assets of Lacroix during the investigation and to protect investors. Lacroix also had to submit to various requests to show white paw, and inform the AMF.

Before his refusal to comply, he was cited for contempt of court.

An acquittal

Judge Daniel Dumais was cleared of Lacroix Friday, one of the charges of contempt, namely, of not having immediately transferred 420 bitcoins in its possession when the provisional administrator, appointed by the court, is landed at him, in Charlesbourg, July 5, 2018 in the late evening. The contractor is now finally resolved to make the transfer computer the next day, at the courthouse, when a judge threatened him with imprisonment if he does not obtempérait not to the order of the court.

The creator of the PlexCoin is, however, guilty of failing to produce a balance sheet sworn to its assets and liabilities, of failing to make accountability an address of portfolio virtual bitcoins and they neglected to hand over to the provisional administrator passwords, providing access to the contents of the electronic equipment seized a year ago.

The judge Dumais has obviously not been convinced by the justifications presented by Lacroix at the trial.

“Dominic Lacroix makes a mockery of the justice system, judgments and orders. It does not comply with its own commitments. His run-ins with the AMF and the courts last a long time. He was in a hurry to finish, ” he said. It harasses him, he complained, wrote the judge Dumais. However, it is not cooperating, gives conflicting explanations, often non-verifiable, and believes that it’s enough.”

At trial, Lacroix said, to everyone’s amazement, you have erased a USB key containing all his passwords a few days after the seizure of his computer hardware. Even if it wanted to, it could not provide this information to the AMF.

The judge Dumais does not believe it. “If we accept his version, this means that as early as July 2018, the defendant had decided to destroy the information to, eventually, recover assets, to defend himself of the charges, civil lawsuits, to justify, etc,” noted the judge.

Dominic Lacroix, the AMF and Raymond Chabot provisional administrator shall be summoned to the court in ten days to discuss the penalty for contempt of court.

First contempt of court

In the fall of 2017, Dominic Lacroix had been convicted a first time for contempt of court for having continued to make the promotion of the PlexCoin in contravention of an order of the court. He was sentenced to two months ‘ imprisonment and a fine of $ 10,000. Lacroix has appealed this decision.

Settlement with the sec

Moreover, Dominic Lacroix has entered into amicable settlement preliminary with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the u.s., who had brought a civil action against him. The SEC alleged that the financier had sold PlexCoin to customers in the United States by promising falsely of fabulous returns.

According to the agreement, which still needs to be approved by a court, Lacroix would not face any charges. It would pay back investors and it would be forbidden to create a new cryptomonnaie.

Le Soleil