Calgary man accused of $4.6M cryptocurrency-bot investment fraud

The B.C. Securities Commission has accused Calgary resident Connor Sinclair Gardiner-Ingram of defrauding investors of approximately $4.6 million through a purported cryptocurrency-trading-bot investment scheme. The allegations have not been proven.

In a notice of hearing issued Wednesday, the commission alleges Gardiner-Ingram told investors their money would be used for bots that bought and sold cryptocurrency over fixed periods, with profits paid at the end. It says he used the name Alpha Alliance and represented it as registered in Ontario, British Columbia or Canada, though no such corporate entity was registered in those jurisdictions.

The commission alleges that, while living in Comox, B.C., Gardiner-Ingram raised $3.6 million from 43 investors and another $1 million from investors referred by an Australia-based woman identified only as R between Oct. 7, 2021, and Feb. 28, 2024. It says the money entered his personal accounts and accounts of Dripsidecustoms Ltd., a B.C. company he controlled.

According to the notice, the funds were used for non-investor payments, including transfers to family, luxury goods, jewellery, vehicles, travel and cash withdrawals. He is also accused of making false or misleading statements under oath to commission investigators in three 2024 interviews.

Gardiner-Ingram or legal counsel must appear at the commission’s downtown Vancouver offices on Sept. 15 if they wish to respond before a hearing is scheduled.