UPDATE: Canada’s Ontario And Quebec Join Alberta In Issuing Warning On ‘ProfitableSunrise’; [UPDATE: British Columbia, Too]

UPDATED 4:48 PM EDT (U.S.A.) British Columbia now also has issued a warning against Profitable Sunrise. See Comments thread below . . .

First it was North Carolina in the United States. Alabama quickly followed.

And the United Kingdom’s Financial Services Authority also issued a warning about the Profitable Sunrise “program.”

Canada’s province of Alberta published a Profitable Sunrise warning yesterday. Ontario and Quebec followed today.

Here is Ontario’s warning in its entirety (italics added):

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OSC INVESTOR ALERT: Inter Reef Ltd., Roman Novak and Radoslav Novak (doing business as Profitable Sunrise)

TORONTO – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is warning Ontario investors not to invest with Profitable Sunrise, which claims to be located in the United Kingdom while representing that its banking facilities are in the Czech Republic. Profitable Sunrise is offering investors “investment plans”, but Profitable Sunrise is not registered in Ontario to engage in the business of trading in securities or advising anyone with respect to investing in, buying or selling securities.

Profitable Sunrise is representing that its “investment plans” earn abnormal returns, “risk-free”, of 1.5 per cent – 2.7 per cent per business day, which translates into an annual return of over 300 per cent. On January 11, 2013, the OSC issued a warning to investors entitled “Beware: High-yield Investment Programs are Ponzi Schemes” that explains the risks of investing with companies like Profitable Sunrise. You can find the warning on the “OSC Investor News” section of the OSC’s website at www.osc.gov.on.ca.

The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices and to foster fair and efficient capital markets and confidence in capital markets. Investors are urged to check the registration of any person or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC’s investor materials available at www.osc.gov.on.ca.

If you have any questions or information relating to this matter, please contact the OSC Contact Centre at 1-877-785-1555.

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And here, through the Autorité des marchés financiers, is Quebec’s warning (italics added):

March is Fraud Prevention Month – Caution to be used when solicited by Profitable Sunrise

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Montréal – The Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF”) is warning Quebeckers about investment contracts offered by Inter Reef LTD, also known as Profitable Sunrise on the Internet, which purports to be a British company and is not authorized to carry on business in Québec.

The North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State recently issued an order warning investors about offers published by Profitable Sunrise and its officer, Roman Novak, on the Internet. Investigators with the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State say that Profitable Sunrise and its officer promoted five different investment plans through a website that offered rates of return ranging from 1.6% to 2.7% per business day. Investors were told their money would be used to fund short-term loans to businesses, “risk-free”.  Secretary of State investigators have also discovered that victims were asked to make wire transfers of money to financial institutions in Eastern European countries, including the Czech Republic.

This week, the Alberta Securities Commission warned investors after it received reports from a Calgary-based banking institution that several of its customers have attempted to withdraw significant amounts of funds from their accounts for wire transfers to the Czech Republic.

Although there is no proof that Quebeckers invested in the scheme, the AMF urges great caution in dealing with offers by Profitable Sunrise. No person or company named Roman Novak, Inter Reef LTD or Profitable Sunrise is registered with the AMF. Since they are not registered with the AMF, solicitations by Roman Novak, Inter Reef LTD and Profitable Sunrise of Québec investors could contravene the laws administered by the AMF.

If you have responded to solicitations from Profitable Sunrise or any similar type of solicitation, please contact an officer at our Information Centre.

Reminder to investors
As part of Fraud Prevention Month, the AMF reminds consumers that it is important to ask questions (5 bonnes questions — in French only) before entrusting their savings to a person who solicits them, especially when promised a return that is too good to be true such as in this case.

The Autorité des marchés financiers (the “AMF”) is the regulatory and oversight body for Québec’s financial sector.