BCSC panel sanctions director and president and CEO of parking technology company

VANCOUVER, July 25, 2013 /CNW/ - A British Columbia Securities Commission panel has sanctioned a director and the president and CEO of a now-bankrupt parking technology company for illegally distributing securities.

In July 2012, a commission panel found that Photo Violation Technologies Corp. (PVT), Frederick Lawrence Marlatt (a.k.a. Frederick Lawrence Mitschele), and Michael Wallace Minor contravened securities laws by selling approximately $3.6 million in PVT shares to 272 investors without being registered and with no prospectus. The panel determined that exemptions claimed by the respondents were not applicable.

At the time of the distributions, Mitschele was president and CEO of PVT, a B.C. company whose business was the development and commercialization of parking meter technology. Minor was a director of PVT.

In its sanctions decision, the panel noted that a major mitigating factor was that Mitschele and Minor took considerable steps on behalf of PVT to ensure compliance with the Securities Act, including the obtaining of legal advice and meeting with commission staff with a view to addressing PVT's compliance issues. Other mitigating factors were that neither Mitschele nor Minor has any prior disciplinary history, and that neither was enriched through their activities in PVT (in fact, both of them incurred losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result of their involvement with PVT).

For his misconduct, Mitschele is banned for five years from trading securities or exchange contracts (with limited exceptions), and from acting as a director or officer of any issuer, other than PVT2 (the successor company to PVT) and any issuers all the securities of which are beneficially owned by him or members of his family. He is also prohibited, for the same period, from acting as a promoter, from engaging in investor relations activities, and from acting in a management or consultative capacity in connection with the securities market. Mitschele may engage in activities for the purpose of obtaining financing for PVT2's business.

Minor is banned for five years from trading securities or exchange contracts (with limited exceptions).  He is also prohibited, for the same period, from acting as a director or officer of any issuer, other than two private companies named in the order and any issuer all the securities of which are owned beneficially by him or members of his immediate family.  Minor is similarly prohibited from acting as a promoter, engaging in investor relations activities, or acting in a management or consultative capacity in connection with the securities market.

The B.C. Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating trading in securities within the province. You may view the decision on our website, www.bcsc.bc.ca, by Typing Photo Violation Technologies Corp. (PVT), Frederick Lawrence Marlatt (a.k.a. Frederick Lawrence Mitschele), Michael Wallace Minor, or 2013 BCSECCOM 276 in the search box. Information regarding disciplinary proceedings can be found in the Enforcement section of the BCSC website.

Please visit the Canadian Securities Administrators' Disciplined Persons List for information relating to persons disciplined by provincial securities regulators, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Mutual Fund Dealers Association (MFDA).

If you have questions, contact Richard Gilhooley, media relations, 604-899-6713. For public inquiries, call 604 899 6854 or 1 800 373 6393 (toll free).

Learn how to protect yourself and become a more informed investor at www.investright.org

SOURCE: British Columbia Securities Commission

Richard Gilhooley
604-899-6713 or (Canada) 1-800-373-6393