Burlington man was banned for life from selling stocks in Ontario — twice
Teodosio (Ted) Pangia likely has the dubious distinction of twice being banned for life from Ontario's securities market.
The Burlington resident - who died June 19 at age 62 - was fined $50,000 and first banned in 2003 by the Ontario Securities Commission from raising money from the public, and serving as an officer or director of a public company.
This came about from his involvement in a company, in which he served as CEO and chair, when it collapsed in the late 1990s after raising $1.4 million from 113 investors to supposedly develop a new line of environmentally-friendly auto exhaust systems.
More than $4.7 million was raised from investors in Ontario, the United States and Malaysia. They were told their shares were listed on the Vancouver Stock Exchange. In fact, the stock had been suspended and taken off the market, leaving the investors no way to sell their shares.
The second lifetime ban came in April 2010 after Pangia admitted to the OSC he talked to potential investors about his latest project during a 2008 meeting in Windsor.
Pangia and his involvement with Hamilton-based Ecology Pure Air International (EPAI) and an international subsidiary was the subject of an investigation by Hamilton Spectator business reporter Mike Pettapiece in 1999.
The OSC charged Pangia and an associate with selling stock without a licence and without a prospectus in 2001. It said Pangia and his associate used false press releases, spam emails and misleading analyst reports to convince investors the company was on the verge of an environmental breakthrough.
OSC spokesperson Eric Pelletier said it was rare for someone to be banned from the Ontario stock market.
Permanent bans are only handed down in the most serious cases, so that says something about how egregious the conduct was," he told The Spectator.
Pettapiece reported in 1999 that EPAI was in debt to the tune of more than $4 million (U.S.) and had no assets. Pangia was facing a tangle of lawsuits. The RCMP was alerted, but a spokesperson told Pettapiece its investigation was difficult because of the noticeable absence" of identifiable Canadian victims.
Pangia grew up in Hamilton and attended St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School, where he had been a basketball star. He was the son of Italian immigrants Vincenzo and Lina Pangia. He graduated from Western University with a BA in administrative and commercial studies in 1981.
Ted was the epitome of a renaissance man," his family said in his June 30 death notice in The Spectator.
As an enterprising entrepreneur, athlete, dynamic figure and fun loving friend, he was always there to lend a hand. The spirit of his love of life and passion will live on through his business ventures fostered by his friends and family who will continue his legacy."
Pettapiece described Pangia as a hulking bear of a guy, who combines impressive size with great charm and salesmanship. Those who have met him say the energetic former Hamiltonian is as much at home with clients in New York City as he is on his purebred Arabian horse farm in Kleinburg, north of Toronto." He had once been a mutual funds salesperson and a tax-shelter promoter.
The EPAI story began in 1992 when Pangia met a Connecticut businessperson who had done some research into reducing engine emissions called Carbon Flo. Pangia owned a shell company on the Vancouver Stock Exchange (a company with no assets or product) and put Carbon Flo under it. He set about raising money while the businessperson focused on research. The product, however, proved inconsistent after numerous tests, and faced competition.
More cash was needed and in 1996 Pangia approached a member of Malaysian royalty. The son-in-law of the sultan of Negeri Sembilan helped raise $5 million.
Pangia held investment meetings in the U.S., Hong Kong and Canada, such as one attended by 600 people at a Toronto hotel in 1996. There was a campaign in Florida about the system, called Thundercat, with a Miss Thundercat.
The Vancouver Stock Exchange issued cease-trading orders when it did not file financial statements and legal trouble started fomenting. Pangia was forced out in June 1997.
Pangia is survived by his partner Debbi Mattatall, her two sons and five grandchildren, and his brother Michael.
Daniel Nolan can be reached at dannolanwrites@gmail.com