At the request of the Financial Markets Authority (AMF), a provisional administrator will take control of Élan Future to protect the public. The company that claims it can “end the energy crisis” has attracted investments totaling $8.9 million. The money was instead used to pay its owner’s personal expenses.
“A significant portion of the assets [d’Élan Future] was used for a purpose other than that for which it was intended,” explains the Financial Markets Authority in a press release published Friday.
The guardian of financial markets specifies that “embezzlement, embezzlement or breach of trust were committed in particular by Jérôme-Olivier Malo”, owner of the company.
Already, in December, the AMF had obtained orders to block the accounts of companies belonging to Mr. Malo. This time, it is the Superior Court of Quebec which orders the appointment of a provisional administrator to Élan Future and other companies owned by Mr. Malo. The mandate of this administrator is to protect the public by monitoring business operations.
Over the past few years, investors have injected more than $8.9 million into Élan Future through contracts linked to Elan Coin, a cryptocurrency created by the company.
The Granby company claims to have developed a “sophisticated energy amplifier” which would make it possible to multiply the autonomy “by 10” of electric vehicles and to recharge their batteries only once every two months. By relying on the concept of “parametric resonance”, this technology could “put an end to the energy crisis”, according to Élan Future.
However, almost all of the amounts received would not have been used for technology development activities. In a first decision rendered by the court in December, it was argued that “only approximately $622,357.39 of the cash outflows could possibly be linked to business expenses.”
The AMF believes that Jérôme-Olivier Malo and his companies could have, in fact, deployed “a scheme” where the amounts collected from investors “would be used to pay personal expenses”.
So far, the AMF investigation has revealed that the sums advanced by investors were used to purchase two Teslas, a Ducati motorcycle, a Toyota as well as a ship and two buildings.
“In the opinion of the Court, these serious apparent breaches risk causing irreparable harm to the integrity of financial markets and the investing public as well as affecting investor confidence in these markets,” we can read in the judgment which accompanies the December ordinances.
These target Jérôme-Olivier Malo’s companies, but also business partners: Marie-Soleil Baril, Dominik Bilodeau, Alexandre Cossette, Martin Isabelle and Nicolas Maltais. The AMF also indicated to The Press that “notices of dispute” have been filed by some of them, but that no hearing has been scheduled to date.
During an interview given last year to the TradingView site, Jérôme-Olivier Malo maintained that he had put together an experienced team made up of “physicists who challenge the status quo, engineers from Hydro-Québec who have electricity in the veins, financial magicians who see beyond financial results and angel investors who have their eyes fixed on a horizon lit by innovation. »
Hydro-Québec spokesperson Jonathan Côté denies these claims. “We don’t work with that person. He’s really someone we don’t have a connection with. » He adds: “We ourselves found the company’s claims quite astonishing. They are not the first to come up with somewhat miraculous solutions. And generally when it’s too good to be true, it’s just too good to be true. »