Another Ontario resident has been issued a temporary restraining order regarding Axcess Automation/Axcess Funds.
Steven Taylor, who is not licenced to trade securities or commodities in Ontario, and whose company, International Communication Strategies is registered in Panama, has been ordered to:
IT IS ORDERED pursuant to clause 2 of subsection 127(1) of the Act that all trading by Taylor and ICS shall cease.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to clause 3 of subsection 127(1) of the Act that the exemptions contained in Ontario securities law do not apply to Taylor and ICS.IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to subsection 127(6) of the Act this order shall take effect immediately and shall expire on the fifteenth day after its making unless extended by order of the Commission.
The order also says:
AND WHEREAS based on information obtained by Staff of the Commission, it appears to the Commission that Taylor and ICS may have solicited investments from investors in Ontario in relation to Axcess, Axcess Fund Management, Axcess Fund and Driver;
Taylor, who formerly billed himself as The Wealth Strategy Guy has 15 days to appeal this order.
Prior desist orders regarding Gordon Driver/Axcess Automation/Funds have been extended.
Just a hunch, I don’t understand financial legalize…the OSC has made it’s move just prior to any civil or criminal moves by regulators in the US regarding Axcess Automation/Funds. I wonder if investors can expect to see some movement by regulators in the US soon.
Gordon Driver and David Rutledge issued orders from the OSC in April 2009. In May 2009, a civil case was brought against Driver by the CFTC and SEC, and a criminal investigation launched. Driver named 100 Huntley Street hosts Ron and Reynold Mainse as finders in the alleged 13.5 million dollar ponzi scheme.
International Communication Strategies
50th St. Credicorp Plaza Building
22nd Floor, Suite 2202
Panama City, Republic of Panama
Axcess is a Nevada corporation located in Mission Viejo, California and has never been a reporting issuer in Ontario nor registered to trade in securities in Ontario;
Driver is a Canadian citizen who resides in both Ontario and Las Vegas, Nevada and has never been registered to trade in securities in Ontario;
Rutledge is an Ontario resident and has never been registered to trade in securities in Ontario;
Axcess, Axcess Fund Management, Axcess Fund, Driver and Rutledge may have solicited investments from Ontario and United States residents totalling between $5 million and $10 million;
It’s obvious to me that Driver and Rutledge broke the law in Ontario which Christians are not supposed to do. And if you tell a judge that you drove through a red light in ignorance, he will laugh at you and put you into a mental institution!
But only for a 72 hour hold.;^)
If I drive through a red light, I’ll pay my ticket, no judges for me.
“AND WHEREAS based on information obtained by Staff of the Commission, it appears to the Commission that Taylor and ICS may have solicited investments from investors in Ontario in relation to Axcess, Axcess Fund Management, Axcess Fund and Driver;
AND WHEREAS it appears to the Commission that Taylor and ICS may have traded in securities without being registered to do so, contrary to section 25 of the Act; ”
Steven Taylor is an Ontario resident who has never been registered to trade either.
The relevant clauses in the Act – Section 127 – in the public interest:
127(1)An order that trading in any securities by or of a person or company cease permanently or for such period as is specified in the order.
127(6) An order that a person or company be reprimanded.
Hello Bene – can you please explain what all this means in layperson terms – sorry a little slow at understanding what this latest entry means regarding Steve Taylor????? Was he working with Driver is that what the OSC has found out??? Please explain.
Hmmm. I read Section 127 of the Act.
This is insider stuff, I agree you’d have to be following it.
Steven Taylor and Gordon Driver grew up together.
A few months ago I made a connection with Taylor and Driver on this blog and was asked to take that connection post down.
Taylor took down one website around that time, The Wealth Strategy Guy (TM).
[As a complete off-side how weird is a company named International Communication Strategies in Panama?
People trust this grandiosity - no red flags? It's like Reynold Mainse 1990's 'World Class Communications Inc.' Okay. I'm done]
Back to the story. As far as I can tell Driver cut off contact with Canadians he was connected with as the civil case was filed in the US.
I assume Taylor, his company and involvement with Axcess and Driver fits into the CTFC Driver/Axcess investigatory timeline.
“From approximately February 2006 to the present, Driver and Axcess raised at least $14.1 million from over 100 investors in the United States and Canada through the sale of interests in Axcess.” SEC (May 14, 2009)
a) I have no idea how many investors Steven Taylor steered toward Axcess Automation.
Is he the finder for the 48 group identified in the SEC documents?
Is Rutledge? We don’t know yet.
b) I don’t know if Steven Taylor worked with or knows David Rutledge. I am inclined to believe they are buddies, but neither one has said so publicly. Would people at Crossroads know Taylor?
“Driver solicited friends, neighbors, and business acquaintances through informal meetings and casual conversation. Driver’s scheme flourished in mid-2007 when he made inroads with leaders of an Ontario, Canada-based Christian television ministry, where he had worked in the late 1970s. Close relatives of the television ministry’s founder invested in Axcess and became finders or “point persons” for Axcess. Driver recruited other investors to do the same.” – SEC
c) Taylor isn’t licenced any more than Gordon Driver or David Rutledge are – to trade, sell, advice – which of course has been a key issue around Axcess. Christians not knowing or obeying regulations and law.
d) Did Taylor gain financially and was he a finder?
He hasn’t said.
We can only surmise things from this OSC order, until people speak up. The OSC order is in line with the SEC allegations:
“Driver periodically provided information regarding the weekly trading profits to the finders, who reported the returns to investors in their group.” SEC
e) Did investors know Taylor’s company was in in Panama and he isn’t licenced to trade in Canada?
He hasn’t said. Investors haven’t said.
A commenter at BDBO, David (who publicly says he is a Canadian living in the US) wrote that he gave Gordon Driver money and gained.
He hasn’t said how the connection was made or when.
He didn’t say his money was in Axcess Automation or funds.
Garnet says publicly his friend who lost 100 thousand wound up doing so through a western investment company but hasn’t identified the company.
I find it difficult to believe a reputable firm wouldn’t have done due diligence. It happens, but…I can see Christians just trusting other Christians.
One of the things I’ve wondered is how much a network of believers who fit the classic parameters of a targeted group the investors are. I don’t think we’ll ever know.
“The scheme allegedly defrauded more than 100 participants in the United States and Canada, with many participants residing in Los Angeles County and in Ontario Province.” – CFTC
I think there are a lot of questions people won’t get answers to, but I think it’s important to try.
When you look at the US civil court documents, an unknown is whether Driver/Axcess has other unfound accounts (offshore).
“In late February 2009, Driver prepared and sent one investor group (48 investors) an annual statement on Axcess letterhead showing each investor’s purported deposits, withdrawals, and principal, weekly returns, and account balance as of December 3I, 2008. The Axcess annual statements for the 48 investors show total account balances of approximately $9.6 million. In fact, at the end of December, Driver only had about $276,162 in all of his accounts… SEC”
The SEC doesn’t identify the investor group. Did the OSC do that on October 2nd with this order? We don’t know.
I think investigators are still connecting the dots.
Is Steven Taylor, his involvement with Driver and his company a dot?
Enough of a one the OSC has done some public housekeeping on this side of the border.
Another questions is; who got the alleged doctored financial statement from Gordon Driver?
“But in early October 2008, Driver sent at least one finder a fabricated trading account statement, which falsely stated that the account’s ending balance was approximately $34.7 million as of August 28, 2008, when in fact, it was only about $10,774. The finder continued to raise money from investors after receiving the bogus trading account statement from Driver.”
Investigators have alleged that finder is Canadian.
Was it Taylor? Rutledge?
In lay person terms, I’m seeing another dot in an alleged religious affinity fraud.
Misplaced trust, spiritualized, faith group financial networking, broken lives.
A lesson in chose your friends carefully, do your homework, don’t trust someone at church because they speak your language, are nice and make you feel special. Messy, life shattering, faith draining stuff.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions stuff…
I don’t think that David Rutledge lost any money in all of this?
Sincerity and presumption are not a guarantee of not going to hell and many so called Christians will find themselves there!
From what I take from the order, Taylor was helping sell Axcess stuff without a license and the OAC told him to stop right now; normally, that requires a hearing, but the Ponzi scheme is toxic enough that they pulled the plug right away.
Taylor seems to be another “finder” although one with a foreign-based firm to play with. The Mainses were doing their work on a more ad-hoc basis, while Taylor seems to have set himself up as a legit-looking adviser without the licenses to do so legally in Ontario.
Yet another dot in the grid, you are correcxt.
Being from Ontario and having a foreign-based firm to play with shows me criminal intent! The OAC is not blind or stupid and hence told Taylor to stop