Appeal dismissed in elaborate securities fraud case

Top court rules key player wasn’t entitled to jury trial

The Supreme Court of Canada denied an attempt Friday by Edmonton’s Jeremy (Jay) Peers to overturn his convictions on 11 counts of breaching Alberta securities laws.

Peers, who pleaded guilty to the charges last February, was the key player behind one of the biggest and most complex securities frauds in recent Alberta history.

When his business empire collapsed in December 2010, scores of investors across Western Canada saw roughly $80 million of their money disappear in what was subsequently exposed as an elaborate securities fraud.

The bankruptcy filings of his companies — Edmonton-based Federal Mortgage Corp. and Peers Foster Kristiansen — cost some elderly investors their life savings. One Calgary investor is believed to have committed suicide.

But Peers, 71, appealed his case, saying the maximum five years less one day prison term and $5-million fine he faced meant he should have been entitled to a jury trial.

While Peers argued this was an error that required all his charges be stayed, or effectively thrown out, the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled against him.

The Supreme Court upheld that decision following a hearing Valentine’s Day. He was scheduled to appear in provincial court Friday.

The Alberta Securities Commission has said Peers’ guilty pleas include two counts of perpetrating a fraud on investors and five counts of making untrue or misleading statements regarding investing in Federal Mortgage Corp. and Peers Foster Kristiansen.

There’s also one count each of allowing Federal Mortgage Corp. to make untrue or misleading statements to investors and distributing securities without filing a prospectus or using an applicable exemption, and two counts of acting as a dealer and adviser without registration.

Peers’ son, Robert Peers, has also pleaded guilty to one count of contravening the Alberta Securities Act.

Jay Peers is the grandson of Harry Marshall Erskine (H.M.E.) Evans, a coal baron who served as Edmonton’s mayor about a century ago. The family’s sprawling Glenora estate, Sylvancroft, was sold in 2011 for $2.5 million and the historic mansion was eventually demolished for a housing project.