TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The executive director of the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) this week issued a notice of hearing alleging that a former consulting geologist tipped off his wife and that they engaged in insider trading.

The notice alleged that Robert Frederick Weicker had been contracted as a consulting geologist by junior Geo Minerals in October 2010, when he informed his wife of material information that had not been generally disclosed regarding the acquisition of that company. BCSC staff contend that she then used the information to buy securities of Geo Minerals.

Geo Minerals is a junior mining mineral exploration company headquartered in Vancouver with a listing on the TSX Venture Exchange.

The notice stated that, in June 2011, Toronto-based New Gold contacted Geo Minerals to express its interest in acquiring one of Geo Minerals’ properties. On July 28, 2011, Weicker and representatives from New Gold and Geo Minerals met to discuss the potential deal.

Throughout August and early September, he was involved with the negotiations between Geo Minerals and New Gold, which progressed from a single property deal to a company buy-out.

On Friday, September 9, 2011, Weicker received an email message from the Geo Minerals CEO stating that New Gold's board would likely approve a $0.15 bid. On Monday, September 12, Weicker’s wife transferred $60 500 into her self-directed, online trading account from joint accounts controlled by the Weickers and began trading Geo Minerals shares through her trading account, buying a total of 585 900 shares on September 12 and 13.

On September 16, New Gold provided Geo Minerals with a nonbinding expression of interest to acquire all of Geo Minerals. That day, the Geo Minerals CEO emailed Weicker, saying the company had “something in writing. The eagle is landing!!".

On September 21 and October 11, Weicker’s wife transferred $37 900 more into her trading account. In total, between September 12 and October 11, she bought 729 945 Geo Minerals shares at an average cost of $0.105 a share, being the only securities bought or sold in her trading account during this period.

On October 17, New Gold and Geo Minerals publicly announced that they had entered into an agreement, whereby New Gold would acquire 100% of the outstanding common shares of Geo Minerals. Following the announcement, the price of Geo Minerals’ shares increased by 33% from $0.12 to $0.16.

On December 7, Weicker’s wife liquidated her position in Geo Minerals shares at $0.16 a share for proceeds of $116 781.21, representing a profit of $40 132.67.

Then, on December 16, she deposited the funds from the trading account into one of the Weicker's joint accounts.

BCSC staff alleged that both Weicker and his wife breached securities laws by using material information that had not been generally disclosed to buy and trade securities.

The notice also referenced Weicker’s previous misconduct and disciplinary history, including a settlement agreement with the BCSC for issuing misleading news releases that failed to disclose material facts, and a guilty plea in provincial court to tax evasion.

These allegations had not been proven and counsel for the executive director would apply to set dates for a hearing into the allegations before a panel of commissioners on September 17.