Former Calgary businessman Sheldon Zelitt was sentenced to four years in jail and ordered to pay more than $1.8 million in fines by a provincial court judge in Calgary last week, in the latest development in the scandal in which he touted a store-bought TV set as cutting-edge 3-D technology.
But although a warrant has been issued for the arrest of the disgraced former CEO of VisuaLABS Inc., he and his wife are living in the Czech Republic and cannot be compelled to return unless charged with a criminal offence.
In addition to the jail time and fines, Judge Gerald Meagher ordered that Zelitt, 56, be banned for 25 years from acting as a director or officer, cease trading in securities and be denied use of the exemptions in the Securities Act.
Zelitt was sentenced in absentia after being convicted on 11 counts of securities offences earlier this month for making misrepresentations in documents filed with the Alberta Securities Commission, the industry-funded regulatory agency responsible for administering the Alberta Securities Act.
Should Zelitt fail to pay the fines, another four years will be added to his sentence.
It’s the highest penalty ever handed down in Alberta for securities violations.
Zelitt was suspended, then fired, as chief executive for Calgary-based VisuaLABS in the summer of 2001 after trying to pass off a purchased TV set as his high-tech innovation during an annual meeting with shareholders.
