Vancouver man failed to produce documents, obstructed justice, regulator rules

A sign at the B.C. Securities Commission office in downtown Vancouver is seen on Dec. 28, 2024. (CTV News)

A panel of the B.C. Securities Commission has ruled that a Vancouver man failed to comply with a demand to produce documents and obstructed justice.

BCSC investigators issued the demand to Lucas Christopher Birdsall in June 2024, serving it by mail, email and posting it to his front door, the regulator said in a news release Friday.

“Despite being granted two extensions to the deadline by the BCSC, Birdsall has not provided any records,” the release reads.

Much of the panel’s decision on the matter, which was issued Wednesday and published online Friday, is dedicated to the various applications Birdsall’s counsel made as part of the hearing process.

The submissions included applications challenging the constitutionality of portions of B.C.’s Securities Act, seeking document production by the regulator and other parties, arguing that the proceeding was an abuse of process and arguing that the panel members should recuse themselves, among other things.

The panel dismissed all eight of the applications made on Birdsall’s behalf.

“The panel concluded that he failed or refused to comply with the demand and that he failed or refused to produce the records and things, or classes of records and things, in his custody, possession or control,” the BCSC said in its release.

“His refusal to give a record that was reasonably required for a BCSC investigation was an obstruction of justice under the Act, the panel said.”

Birdsall and the BCSC’s executive director will now make submissions to the panel on what sanctions Birdsall should face for his conduct. Those submissions are due next month.

Lawyer has taken on BCSC before

Birdsall was represented at the hearing by Joven Narwal, a lawyer who specializes in defending those accused of white collar crime.

Narwal has successfully challenged BCSC decisions in court in the past, and coincidentally sent a news release touting an unrelated victory against BCSC-related criminal charges on Friday, the same day the regulator announced its decision in the Birdsall case.

According to Narwal, Crown prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against Yazan Al Homsi, who the BCSC had accused of withdrawing funds from an account that was subject to a freeze order and making false or misleading statements to investigators about it.

• Read more: Vancouver man withdrew from frozen account, securities regulator alleges

Neither Narwal nor the BCSC specified why the account was frozen in the first place.

“From the outset, this prosecution was built on tunnel vision and a fundamentally flawed investigative theory, one that attempted to transform an innocent banking error committed by the bank itself into criminal conduct by our client, despite the absence of any evidence capable of supporting that conclusion,” Narwhal’s statement reads. “When the truth became clear, Crown counsel acted with integrity and terminated the prosecution.”

The lawyer went on the claim that the charges against Al Homsi “should never have been laid,” and to allege that there are “serious and systemic concerns” with the BCSC’s investigative process.

“This termination follows directly on the heels of my successful defence of Sean Pollard, whose insider trading prosecution was also terminated by Crown counsel,” Narwal said. “These consecutive failed prosecutions raise profound concerns about the judgment, and institutional competence of the B.C. Securities Commission and its enforcement branch.”

CTV News reached out to the regulator to ask if it had any response to Narwal’s statement and to confirm that the charges had been dropped.

“We can confirm that the charges against Mr. Al Homsi were stayed, as stated in our news release,” wrote Brian Kladko, manager of media relations and public affairs for the BCSC, in an email to CTV News.

“We refer you to Crown Counsel for any other questions you may have about the case. As to the critical statements by Mr. Narwal, he has a history of making unsubstantiated statements about the B.C. Securities Commission.”