Millions in penalties sought in Sino-Forest case

TORONTO — The Ontario Securities Commission has ordered several top executives of timber company Sino-Forest to pay millions in administrative penalties, disgorgement and costs. The regulator ruled last year that the company and several of its top executives defrauded investors and misled investigators in one of Canada’s largest corporate fraud cases.

Former CEO Allen Chan, as well as Albert Ip, Alfred Hung and George Ho, defrauded investors by overstating the now defunct company’s timber assets and revenue. In a decision this week, Chan was ordered to pay a $5million administrative penalty, disgorge nearly $60.3 million and pay $2 million in costs to the commission. Ip was ordered to pay a total of about $6 million while Hung was ordered to pay nearly $4.3 million, and Ho was ordered to pay about $3.7 million. Simon Yeung, who was found to have misled staff during the investigation, was ordered to pay an administrative penalty of $1,000.