Shaida Bandali Sentenced After Guilty Plea to Unregistered Trading in Hospital Privacy Breach Case

TORONTO – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) announced today that Shaida Bandali was sentenced to two years’ probation, including 300 hours of community service, and a $36,000 fine by Madam Justice K. Caldwell (Justice Caldwell) at Old City Hall - Ontario Court of Justice. In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25 per cent ($9,000) victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Following an investigation by the OSC’s Joint Serious Offences Team (JSOT), Ms. Bandali pleaded guilty on August 31, 2015 to one count of unregistered trading contrary to section 25(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario). Ms. Bandali had previously acknowledged in court that between January 1, 2010 and March 31, 2014, she engaged in the business of trading in securities without being registered to do so in relation to the following particulars:

Repeatedly breaching the confidentiality policies of her employer, the Rouge Valley Hospital, by accessing, copying, or distributing confidential personal data of maternity patients to one or more Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) dealer representatives;

Creating investor lists from unauthorized access to confidential maternity patient information;

Selling investor lists drawn from unauthorized access to confidential maternity patient information to one or more RESP dealer representatives in the business of soliciting clients; and,

Receiving monies for confidential maternity patient information from RESP dealer representatives without disclosing her conduct to her employer and to maternity patients.

In her sentencing decision, Justice Caldwell commented that the $36,000 fine “reflects the seriousness of the breach of trust component and the vulnerability of the victims.” Her decision further states that “All of the victims had recently given birth and were thus by definition at a very stressful and vulnerable, albeit joyous, time in their lives” and highlights how many of the victims felt that their trust had been violated. For example, the victim impact statements included the following comments:

One woman stated, “I don’t feel safe anymore,” adding “How can a hospital not protect my data?”

Another stated “it [is] unfortunate that the people that we trust with our information are sometimes the people who take the greatest advantage of us.”

Another woman stated “you believe the staff working in the hospital [are] people you can trust…what else in my file has been seen or sold?”   

For a copy of the sentencing decision for this matter, contact Old City Hall - Ontario Court of Justice, referencing the Court file number 4811 999 14 – 12000868 00. 

JSOT was established by the OSC as an enforcement partnership between the OSC, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Financial Crime program and the Ontario Provincial Police Anti-Rackets Branch. The primary objective of JSOT is to protect investors and further enhance confidence in the Canadian capital markets through effective enforcement. This is accomplished through collaborative investigations of serious violations of the law using the provisions of the Securities Act or the Criminal Code.

The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices and to foster fair and efficient capital markets and confidence in the capital markets. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at www.osc.ca

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