'Swindler and con artist' sentenced for breaching BCSC order

Photo: BIV

A “swindler and con artist” in Salmon Arm has been sentenced to two years of probation and house arrest after being convicted of  breaching an order of the British Columbia Securities Commission.

Richard Good was sentenced on May 5 in Salmon Arm court for engaging in investor relations activities despite being permanently banned from doing so in 2007 for orchestrating a $2.4 million investment scheme.

“In that scheme, Good entered into various investment contracts with promises of generating high returns,” the BCSC said. “Good invested only a fraction of the money he raised, using the rest for personal expenses and to return purported interest and capital investments to some investors.”

After an investigation by the BCSC, Good was charged last year with breaching that order and was convicted in March 2020. Good breached the order when he enticed a woman living with Good’s best friend and brother-in-law to invest her money through him in 2013 and 2014. 

Good promised to use the woman’s money to invest in securities and to provide her with a profitable return. However, most of the funds went to Good’s personal expenses, with only a small portion invested.

The BCSC says the judge who convicted Good found "the breach was deliberate and premeditated,” adding, “in 2007, Mr. Good was exposed as a swindler and con artist. By that time, lying was a way of life for him and there is no indication that he has changed.”

At the sentencing hearing, the judge stated that due to the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic a suspended sentence and probation order, with terms similar to house arrest, would be more appropriate than a jail term for this offender. Under the terms of the probation order, Good is allowed to leave his house for only one hour per day.