Kelowna man accused of spending investor money on his Porsche
A Kelowna man and his company are being accused of fraud for allegedly misrepresenting and misusing funds from investors and illegally distributing securities.
William Brent Meikle is the founder, president, CEO and director of Hit TV, a business that was incorporated in Alberta in 2014 and is now facing fraud accusations.
The BC Securities Commission has called for a hearing this May on the accusations Meikle was illegally distributing securities to investors and misusing money made by these securities.
"During the Relevant Period, Hit TV raised approximately $4.1 million by distributing its securities to investors. It raised these funds mostly from existing shareholders who had previously invested in Hit TV," according to documents published by the commission. "Hit TV and Meikle fraudulently used more than $1 million of the funds raised from investors for purposes that benefited Meikle or his spouse and were unrelated to the business of Hit TV."
The commission alleges Meikle used company funds for personal purchases such as $475,000 on a rent-to-own agreement for a luxury home in Kelowna, $58,133 to Porsche Centre Kelowna, cash withdrawal of more than $100,000, and more.
Those funds were raised from 2018 to 2019 when Meikle repeatedly made false or misleading statements to shareholders in hopes of getting more money, the commission alleges. He told investors his company is or would be worth $40 to $100 million, that their shares could be sold on the public market and that the company, had deals or orders in place which would lead to significant revenue. The commission says none of that is true.
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