A licensed exempt market stockbroker lied to an investigator under oath about dealing nearly $2 million worth of shares contrary to her firm’s halt order, the B.C. Securities Commission has alleged in a June 17 hearing notice.

Zhuo Ying Liu, also known as Charlene Liu, “made materially false or misleading statements to a Commission investigator during a compelled interview,” the commission stated.

According to the notice, the alleged transgressions began in 2020, or one year after Liu became registered as a dealing representative at an exempt market dealer—a brokerage firm that is permitted to trade private securities to accredited investors.

At issue is how Liu’s brokerage firm halted trading in a company’s shares due to the company’s failure to provide the firm with documentation.

Despite those instructions, Liu continued to solicit investments in the company until October 2022.

The commission launched an investigation into the company’s transactions in December 2022, although at that point Liu was not a subject of it, the notice stated.

Liu attended a compelled interview with investigators on May 23 and May 24, 2024, claiming she did not sell $1.97 million of the company shares to 13 investors, with the commission’s notice outlining specific amounts and dates.

Liu faces a panel of commissioners independent of the commission on July 21 to face the unproven administrative charges under the B.C. Securities Act.

A website for Rethink and Diversity Securities currently shows Liu listed as a “private market specialist.”

Business in Vancouver offered Liu an opportunity to comment on the notice but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

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