Stanko Grmovsek has been disbarred by the Law Society of Upper Canada nearly two years after he was convicted for his role in a 14-year insider trading scheme that netted him and his accomplice $9 million.
Grmovsek was not represented and did not turn up to the hearing on July 6. According to a written endorsement, he informed the panel, chaired by Bencher Jack Braithwaite, that he would not be contesting the charges.
He was convicted of fraud and insider trading in Ontario and New York following a joint investigation by the RCMP, the Ontario Securities Commission, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and the FBI, and was sentenced to 39 months in jail by an Ontario judge in January 2010.
Grmovsek met his co-accused, Gil Cornblum, during their first week at Osgoode Hall in 1990. In 1994 the pair began their scheme, which involved Cornblum picking up tidbits about upcoming deals at the various law firms he worked for in Ontario, and later New York. He would use pay phones and calling cards to contact Grmovsek, who made trades to capitalize on the information, often through offshore accounts.
Grmovsek has not practised since 1997, devoting himself full-time to trading stocks. The scheme was eventually discovered in 2008 after increasingly sloppy trades alerted the authorities. At the time, Cornblum was a partner in the Toronto office of American firm Dorsey and Whitney LLP.
Cornblum committed suicide in October 2008 just before he was due to be arrested. Grmovsek was released from prison last year. He was also ordered to pay $2,000 to the law society for the costs of bringing the proceedings against him.
