Embattled monetary advisor stripped of licence by regulator

Ontario’s monetary regulator has revoked the licence of a London monetary advisor accused of defrauding purchasers of greater than $2 million

Printed Feb 10, 2025 • 4 minute learn

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Robert (Randy) Hawken, a former London monetary advisor charged in an alleged $2-million fraud, operated Dufferin Monetary Group out of a home at 554 Waterloo St. (Dale Carruthers/The )

Ontario’s monetary regulator has revoked the licence of a London monetary advisor accused of defrauding purchasers of almost $2 million to purchase actual property.

The Monetary Providers Regulatory Authority of Ontario revoked the insurance coverage agent licence for Robert (Randy) Hawken and the company agent licence for his enterprise, in line with a not too long ago launched determination.

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Hawken, who operated Dufferin Monetary Group earlier than retiring within the spring, faces almost two dozen prison charges, mounting civil lawsuits and has had his belongings frozen amid allegations he defrauded purchasers out of greater than $2 million through the previous 20 years.

London monetary advisor Robert (Randy) Hawken (LinkedIn picture)

The regulator’s proposal to revoke Hawken’s licence accuses him of misappropriating purchasers’ funds and offering false info on his licence renewal purposes.

“Hawken demonstrated incompetence and untrustworthiness by misrepresenting to his insurance clients that he was investing their funds when, in fact, he was using their funds for his own personal use,” the authority’s director of litigation and enforcement Elissa Sinha wrote.

“The number of affected clients and the significant amount of misappropriated funds is clear evidence that Hawken is incompetent and untrustworthy to transact the insurance business for which his licence has been granted.”

Hawken, the proprietor and operator of Dufferin Insurance coverage Group, had been licensed as a life insurance coverage and accident and illness agent since 1994 and his licence was set to run out in Might, the regulator stated.

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The Monetary Providers Regulatory Authority stated it acquired a grievance about Hawken in April from one in all his purchasers, who had inherited investments with Hawken and was alerted by London police of an ongoing fraud investigation.

A compliance officer with the regulator spoke over the cellphone in Might with Hawken and he confirmed the consumer’s mom had invested $62,000 with him, the regulator stated.

“Hawken also informed the compliance officer that he took the money that he received . . . . and the money he received from other clients, and used the money to purchase real estate properties,” the regulator stated.

Two corporations with which Hawken labored submitted a misconduct report in Might to the regulator primarily based on an investigation that decided Hawken supplied purchasers a “bogus” funding product and used the cash for himself, misappropriating greater than $2 million in funding funds from greater than 20 purchasers, the regulator stated.

Hawken is licensed to function as Dufferin Insurance coverage Group, however he has been working since at the least 2007 beneath Dufferin Monetary Group, the regulator stated.

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Hawken didn’t request a listening to and the regulator revoked his licence and the licence of Dufferin Insurance coverage Group.

London police arrested Hawken, 66, in September and charged him with fraud of greater than $5,000 and possessing property obtained by crime valued at greater than $5,000. Investigators allege he defrauded 18 individuals out of $2 million by gathering cash for investments by no means made, relationship again to 2003.

In latest months, Hawken has been charged with 20 extra offences – 18 counts of fraud and two counts of possession of stolen property – and the listing of complainants has grown to 30 individuals.

Former purchasers and collectors have launched a mixed 13 lawsuits in opposition to Hawken, with some additionally naming his spouse Cheryl and Amsaral Holdings, an integrated firm he controls, as defendants.

The plaintiffs, most of them retirees, allege Hawken inspired them to spend money on assured funding certificates (GICs), a fixed-term funding that pays set rates of interest, however their cash wasn’t invested and their preliminary funding by no means returned.

Some plaintiffs allege the Hawkens used the funding cash to pay the mortgages, taxes and maintenance for 2 homes in London and one other in Grand Bend.

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A court docket issued an order in October freezing all belongings belonging to Hawken, his spouse and Amsaral. The freeze applies the properties at 554 Waterloo St. and 558 Waterloo St. in London and 10138 Edmonds Blvd. in Grand Bend.

These three properties are on the centre of a pair of lawsuits filed two weeks in the past by GMS Mortgage Funding Corp., a London-based non-public lender, in opposition to Hawken, his spouse and Amsaral.

The corporate is in search of $679,356 and $266,380 within the two instances filed in London and Sarnia.

GMS lent $649,600 to the defendants in Might 2019 for a mortgage on the Waterloo Road properties. The mortgage has an annual rate of interest of 10.71 per cent and month-to-month funds of $5,902, in line with a press release of declare for the London lawsuit.

The corporate agreed to increase the mortgage on a month-to-month foundation after the preliminary mortgage turned due in Might 2022 earlier than requesting full compensation plus missed funds and curiosity in October, alleging the defendants had stopped paying taxes and insurance coverage on the properties, the assertion of declare alleges.

GMS declined remark Monday, citing the continued court docket instances.

The defendants haven’t filed a press release of defence. Statements of declare and assertion of defence embody allegations not but examined in court docket.

Hawken’s prison case returns to court docket Feb. 24.

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