A former mutual fund dealer at the Bank of Montreal in Squamish has been accused of “misappropriating or failing to account for monies” of two deceased clients after transferring more than $25,000 into her personal account.

The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization, an industry-led regulator for registered investment representatives, issued a hearing notice against Christina (Lorna) Cole on June 3, alleging she forged the signature of an out-of-town client to create a phony debit card to access the alleged misappropriated funds.

Cole is set to face a hearing panel June 24. The allegations against her are not proven and Business in Vancouver was unable to contact her for comment.

The regulator stated in the notice Cole was registered as a dealing representative with BMO Investments Inc. between Nov. 19, 2020 and Jan. 9, 2024.

Cole’s alleged scheme began on Oct. 19, 2023, when she was asked by bank staff to close bank accounts belonging to client “AS.”

Cole allegedly did so, apart from one account that was left open.

Oct. 23, 2023, in a matter initially unrelated to AS, Cole was notified by bank staff her investment client “WA” had died.

Cole then allegedly booked an appointment with WA’s daughter and estate executor “DM,” who wished to commence the estate process.

The next day Cole processed a $24,258 redemption of a guaranteed investment certificate (GIC) investment for WA’s estate, according to the hearing notice. However, the redemption was directed to an internal suspense account used by the branch.

Thereafter Cole allegedly prepared a form to issue herself a replacement debit card that was associated with the AS account. To do so, Cole allegedly signed AS’s signature on the form, and submitted the form to the bank for processing.

Three days later Cole then directed $23,801 from the suspense account to a ledger account, and finally to the open account of AS. Once the money was in the AS account, Cole purchased a bank draft payable to herself in the amount of $25,791, according to CIRO investigators.

Cole allegedly deposited the bank draft into her personal credit union account, and spent approximately $3,000 on personal expenses and debts, the notice states.

On Oct. 27, Cole took directions from DM to pay out all redemption proceeds to WA’s estate. At the time, DM was unaware her mother had held a GIC investment at the bank, which Cole did not disclose, according to the hearing notice.

Subsequent to alleged “misappropriation” of WA’s funds, Cole used the AS account to handle money from another deceased client “LB,” who had died on July 1, 2023. Cole was instructed on Nov. 27 by LB’s spouse to redeem $94,471 from a TFSA account.

Cole did so but not before routing the money through the suspense account, then allegedly siphoning $1,000 to the AS account and then using the replacement debit card to withdraw the money.

Prior to that alleged misconduct, the bank discovered Cole had purchased a bank draft from the AS account and deposited it into her own personal account at the bank.

Two weeks later Cole was suspended by the bank.

The notice states Cole initially “failed to repay or account for the monies that she misappropriated” as described above, however, the bank recovered $23,000 from the personal credit union account on Oct. 8, 2024.

The bank also compensated RB and WA for their losses, including interest.

If the allegations are proven, Cole faces regulatory sanctions, which may include fines as well as an industry ban.

BIV asked CIRO if the case had been forwarded to police.

CIRO spokesperson Ariel Visconti stated it was not policy to state if the regulator had done so.

“CIRO provides information on police involvement in specific cases only when such details have been made public. This practice is consistent with how our Enforcement division manages all information related to its investigations and proceedings,” stated Visconti.

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