The former executive team of EurOmax Resources (TSX-V:EOX) got a small amount of vindication Wednesday morning when the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) accused former dissident shareholder Anthony Patriarco of insider trading.
Last year, Patriarco, a resident of Virginia and the company’s largest shareholder, led a successful revolt against the Vancouver company’s management team, claiming they were burning through cash at an unsustainable rate (see “EurOmax fate unclear after dissident vote” – issue 1088; August 31 to September 6, 2010.)
Now, the BCSC has alleged that Patriarco used a foundation he controlled to illegally trade shares based on undisclosed information about an exploration permit in Macedonia.
According to the regulator, Patriarco was a director of the junior mining company when he learned about the information on October 14, 2009, and November 12, 2009.
EurOmax did not disclose the information until July 9, 2010.
The regulator further alleged that between January 6, 2010 and March 31, 2010, Patriarco used Blue Ridge Educational Foundation to trade 782,000 EurOmax shares for total proceeds of US$214,015.
The allegations have not been proven, but they mirror a claim the company’s former management team filed in B.C. Supreme Court on July 14.
According to the claim, Patriarco sold the shares after he learned that Macedonian authorities had rejected one of the company’s permits.
The rejected permit relates to EurOmax’s Ilovitza copper-gold-molybdenum project in Macedonia.
The BCSC has yet to set a date for a hearing into the allegations.
At press time, EurOmax’s shares were down 1.67% to $0.29.