SEC-banned lawyer Dalmy pleads guilty in Connecticut

by Mike Caswell

Colorado securities lawyer Diane Dalmy, known in Vancouver for her part in a 2011 shell factory scheme involving John Briner, has pleaded guilty to unrelated criminal charges in Connecticut. Prosecutors there claim that she was part of multiple pump-and-dumps that defrauded investors of millions. Her role included laundering $825,000 for others. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.)

Ms. Dalmy entered the plea in an appearance on Tuesday, Feb. 6, before Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven. The charge is one count of conspiracy stemming from a securities fraud scheme. She has admitted that as part of the scheme she wrote fraudulent legal opinion letters that allowed others to receive tradable shares and that she allowed the others to move the proceeds of the scheme through her lawyer trust account.

For Ms. Dalmy, the guilty plea is not her first securities transgression. On Sept. 18, 2015, she received a $680,000 fine from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a shell factory scheme that involved Mr. Briner. The SEC said that she wrote opinion letters in support of an effort by Mr. Briner at listing 20 purported mining companies. Mr. Briner had attempted to create the companies as shells by using sham property deals and nominee officers. The SEC stopped the scheme in its early stages, and filed an administrative action against Mr. Briner and Ms. Dalmy.

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