London financial advisor accused of $2M fraud loses licence to sell insurance, regulator says
Financial authority cites misappropriation of funds and providing misleading information as reasons to revoke
A former London financial advisor accused of defrauding numerous clients of nearly $2 million has had his personal and corporate insurance licence revoked by Ontario's financial services regulator.
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) has cancelled the insurance agent licence of Robert Randall Hawken, 67, who is facing more than a dozen fraud charges, along with the corporate insurance licence of his company, Dufferin Insurance Group (DIG), the authority said.
"Hawken, the sole Director of DIG and DIG are no longer suitable to be licensed under the Insurance Act, because of their past conduct, misappropriation of funds and for providing false or misleading information to their clients and on eight licence renewal applications," FSRA wrote.
Hawken was first arrested on Sept. 12, 2024, after police said 18 people were defrauded of a collective $1,988,000 between 2003 and 2024. The financial advisor who formerly operated DIG is accused of collecting investments from victims without ever investing the money he obtained, police said at the time.
He was charged with fraud of $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.
In November, Hawken had 18 new charges laid against him which were individualized to each of his alleged victims, according to court documents. All 18 are charges of fraud over $5,000 with the stated victims being couples, individuals, and in one case an organization.
They also include couples that were named in the initial two charges filed after his initial arrest. The additional charges brought the list of complainants against Hawken to 28.
FSRA said Hawken and DIG did not request a hearing before the Financial Services Tribunal or appeal FSRA's proposal.