Hamilton developer fined by Ontario Securities Commission

A Hamilton-based developer is facing heavy fines from the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) following a decision in regards to a hotel development in Buffalo.

In an earlier ruling this year, the OSC, a regulatory agency that enforces securities legislation within the province, decided that Harry Stinson and several of his companies violated Ontario securities law.

Stinson, who is a Canadian real-estate developer, has had several business dealings in Hamilton and the surrounding area, such as the Stinson School Lofts project and, more recently, the Gibson School Loft project.

One of Stinson’s other projects, the Buffalo Grand Hotel in New York State, is the central focus of the recent OSC sanctions.

Following said ruling, he and his company were hit with $716,000 in fees related to both costs and penalties owed to the commission in a decision made earlier this month.

In June, the OSC ruled that Stinson and his companies failed to file the necessary prospectus for securities that were sold in connection to the project.

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The ruling from earlier this year highlighted that Stinson and several of his companies involved in his Buffalo Grand Hotel project raised $13.7 million Canadian and $364,000 USD by selling securities without the necessary registration.

Additionally, in that same filing, the OSC alleged at the time that Stinson breached a temporary cease trade order, misled investors and failed to segregate investor funds, among other things.

As a result, Stinson was ordered on Dec. 15 to pay a $600,000 administrative penalty and return the respective $13.7 million Canadian and $364,000 USD to the OSC.

On top of the $600,000 in administrative penalties Stinson is facing, an additional $166,00 was billed in costs to the commission.

In an email to CHCH, Stinson said he planned to file an appeal during the next stage of the ruling.

“Our objective, including the investors, is to carry on with the hotel and the other projects,” he added.