Jeffrey Ber, 43, was convicted in September on two counts of fraud over $5,000 and one count of accepting a secret commission from Blackbird Energy.Jeff Ber was convicted of fraud and accepting a secret commission after he bought more than $6 million of high-risk oil and gas stock and then accepted $104,000 from the company. Ber will be sentenced in January.
"These purchases of Blackbird shares instantly put many of those accounts offside with their designated risk tolerances," reads part of Funk's decision.To purchase the Blackbird shares, Ber sold millions of dollars of his clients' existing investments. Justice Funk found Ber "knowingly engaged in a course of dishonest conduct that he knew put TD's economic interests at risk."Funk also found that Ber lied to his employer by denying any relationship with Blackbird.
When called as a witness, Jeff Swainson, then the CFO of Blackbird, said he learned of the $104,000 payment when Ber's friend and Blackbird vice-president Josh Mann showed him the invoice and said words to the effect of "Jeff wants additional funds."Swainson described conversations with Blackbird's CEO Garth Braun and its legal counsel about the payment to Ber.