CALGARY – The Alberta Securities Commission is accusing Poseidon Concepts Corp. of obstruction of justice, alleging that the troubled Calgary-based firm altered the minutes of board of director and audit committee meetings before handing them to the watchdog.
In March, Poseidon was ordered to provide the signed minutes of meetings held between Nov. 1, 2011 and Feb. 28, 2013. A month later, the company sent over electronic copies of the documents.
“The minutes provided to staff were altered from the original minutes. Poseidon provided no notice to staff that any alterations had been made,” the regulator said on its website.
The ASC accused Poseidon of trying to hide the changes.
“For example, gaps caused in the minutes due to apparent redaction of information were closed and the text linked up, sometimes with new words added, giving the impression the text was complete and accurate.”
The commission will meet in Calgary on Tuesday to set a hearing date.
Twice this month, the ASC said it had requested that Poseidon’s council send over the original minutes, but had yet to get a reply.
Poseidon was once seen as an oilpatch darling, known for storage tanks designed to contain fluids used in the oil and gas industry.
But the company has faced a litany of bad news, announcing in February that nearly three-quarters of the $148.1 million recorded as revenue in the first nine months of 2012 shouldn’t have been.
Poseidon has been the subject of several lawsuits. In April, it was granted court protection from creditors in the United States and Canada.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. is Poseidon’s court-appointed monitor.
Read the release below courtesy the Alberta Securities Commission:
The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) has issued a Notice of Hearing alleging obstruction of justice by Poseidon Concepts Corp.
In April 2013, Poseidon Concepts provided the ASC with Board of Director and Audit Committee minutes in response to an ASC Order. ASC staff allege that the minutes provided were altered and incomplete, and edited to hide these alterations from ASC staff, thereby constituting an obstruction of justice.
An appearance to set a date for a hearing in will be held on September 24, 2013, at 10:30 a.m. in the ASC Hearing Room on the 5th floor, 250 – 5th Street S.W., Calgary, Alberta.
A copy of the Notice of Hearing can be found on the ASC website at www.albertasecurities.com.
The ASC is the regulatory agency responsible for administering the province’s securities laws. It is entrusted to foster a fair and efficient capital market in Alberta and to protect investors. As a member of the Canadian Securities Administrators, the ASC works to improve, coordinate and harmonize the regulation of Canada’s capital markets.