Burnaby resident Adis (aka Ady) Golic has been sentenced to 60 days in prison and has been ordered to pay $40,000 to a retired couple he took money from while illegally selling shares.
Golic's sentence was handed down on Friday, Feb. 17, about four months after he was found guilty of two B.C. Securities Act charges related to a company involving a muffler that supposedly reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 97 per cent. He was found guilty of selling securities without being registered to do so or having filed a prospectus, a document outlining details of the business that has to be submitted to the B.C. Securities Commission, the provincial regulatory agency that enforces the laws around selling things like stocks and bonds.
Golic's 60-day prison term is to be served on weekends only, from Friday evening to Sunday evening, so the 60 days will be served over a period of more than two months.
John Neal, one of the two Crown prosecutors who worked on Golic's case, said Golic was also ordered to pay money back to a retired couple.
"There was a $40,000 restitution order made in favour of Margaret and Patrick Burns. They were investors who lost $40,000. He has to pay them back $40,000," Neal said.
According to Neal, the couple testified that they had given more money to Golic, outside the time period covered by the charges.
"He raised money from them on more than one occasion," Neal said.
During the week, while Golic is not in prison, he will be on probation, Neal said.
The two Crown counsellors, Neal and Mark Canofari, were asking for 12 months.
According to Neal, Golic was attempting to raise money for a company called AD Capital U.S., and the business this company was purported to be doing was developing a muffler for cars that allegedly reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 97 per cent.
"There was a company that had patents for a muffler system. Our expert was of the view that there was no scientific or technical merit to the design," he said in a November article in the NOW.
Golic was acquitted on a third count of making misrepresentations and omissions while engaging in investor relations activities or with the intention of effecting a trade in a security.
The case was heard in provincial court, and the trial lasted for about seven days over the course of three weeks, but the offence date was between Nov. 22, 2007 and May 1, 2008 for the charges he was found guilty of and between March 1 and May 31, 2008 for the one he was acquitted of.
In a related matter, Golic was found guilty of obstruction of justice and uttering threats against a woman who was supposed to testify against him. (He was found guilty of both counts, but one was stayed because the charges were so similar.)
According to a 2008 press release from the B.C. Securities Commission, the agency issued a temporary cease trade order against Golic (and his two related companies AD Capital U.S. Inc. and Adcapital Industries Inc.) after simultaneous raids on Golic's home and a room on Royal Oak Avenue, in Burnaby, where 10 people were allegedly promoting securities to potential investors over the phone.
Golic, who sings in a band called Skard, was featured in the NOW on March 19, 2011, for his fundraising efforts to help a Langley family with a young girl suffering a heart condition.
