A Calgary man has been handed a 4.5-year prison sentence for his involvement in a fraud and money laundering scheme that targeted victims in northwestern Alberta.
David Del Bianco’s scheme centred around a purported legal services insurance company called Equal Rights.
According to court documents, Del Bianco urged several individuals to invest in his company, often approaching those who lived in “somewhat rural areas” and were “financially unsophisticated.” The scheme resulted in investors losing at least $523,832.50.
Following a joint investigation by the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) and the Alberta RCMP Federal Policing Integrated Market Enforcement Team (IMET), Del Bianco faced trial and was convicted earlier this year on charges of fraud over $5,000 and laundering the proceeds of crime under the Criminal.
His sentence was delivered this week at the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta, with Honourable Judge Justice N.E. Devlin presiding.
Del Bianco received a 4.5-year imprisonment term for the fraud conviction, with credit for time already served.
As for the money laundering conviction, he received a one-year sentence to be served concurrently.
Aside from jail time, Del Bianco was issued a restitution order of $229,138 to be paid to seven investors. He has also been barred from seeking or holding a position involving authority over the property, money, or valuable security of any other person for a period of 10 years.
In the sentencing decision, Justice Devlin described Del Bianco as an “utterly remorseless fraudster” who persisted in a scheme despite being repeatedly informed of its unlawfulness and caused “profound harm to a highly vulnerable set of victims.”
Cynthia Campbell, ASC director of enforcement, also commented on the case.
“Despite previous enforcement actions by the ASC, David Del Bianco has continued to spin his web of lies to innocent, trusting people,” she said. “Del Bianco's deceits have caused significant financial and psychological harm to his victims.”
“The ASC, through our JSOT partnership [with IMET], is committed to holding Del Bianco and others who repeatedly prey on investors accountable through the criminal courts.”
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