Disgraced Ont. financial advisor sentenced to 5.5 years in prison for fraud, fined $1.3M

An Orillia, Ont., financial advisor, who admitted to defrauding 25 clients, has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

An Orillia, Ont., financial advisor, who admitted to defrauding 25 clients out of about two million dollars, has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

Kevin Douse, 41, has been sentenced after pleading guilty in September to defrauding clients, many of whom were close friends and family members, over a seven-year period while he worked out of WLTH Inc. in downtown Orillia.

Justice Craig Brannagan ruled. Douse orchestrated a “well-planned and sophisticated fraud” between 2016 and 2023 by manipulating clients for his own personal benefit. Douse was ordered to pay restitution and a fine totaling more than $1.3 million.

In his decision, the Barrie judge explained Douse “repeatedly engaged in long-time fraud, taking advantage of his position as a trusted financial advisor” and that Douse’s “fraudulent scheme only came to an end because he got caught.” Douse admitted to defrauding young couples, seniors, personal friends, and family members who put their financial futures in Douse’s hands. Three of his victims have since passed away.

Victims, who delivered impact statements to the court earlier this month during his sentencing hearing in Barrie, said Douse was “someone who they could count on for his professionalism, honesty, and trustworthiness,” while Justice Brannagan concluded Douse “engineered an extensive web of lies to defraud each of them,” resulting in unrecovered losses of more than $1.3 million.

The court heard Douse deposited investment funds of clients into his own personal bank accounts, forging signatures, impersonating clients, falsifying documents, and redirecting funds without his clients’ knowledge. The result of his crimes left his victims financially and emotionally devastated, the court heard.

The court ruled Douse’s actions were “grave,” calling his individual moral culpability “substantial.”

Douse told the court he suffers with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder from working at WLTH Inc. He explained to the court, through a statement he read during sentencing, that his actions were out of desperation and “survival in work life.” The judge considered a pre-sentence report in which Douse told the author he “had no other choice” but to commit the acts of fraud while “trapped in a terrible situation” under his boss at the time.

The Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) banned Douse for life from working in the industry after its panel ruled. Douse misappropriated funds taken from clients, could not account for them, and failed to cooperate with the regulatory body’s investigators. Douse was fined $530,000 by CIRO and ordered to pay an additional $30,000 in legal costs.

During sentencing, Kevin Douse said he accepted full responsibility for his actions, as he lives with deep regret and “debilitating remorse.” He expressed to the court and his victims a desire to repay the money he took from them.

Justice Brannagan ordered that Douse pay the fine, including restitution to victims, within 15 years of his release from custody, and failure to do so will result in Douse being sentenced to five and a half more years in prison.