All Charges Dropped Against Shaun Pollard: Crown Counsel Terminates Prosecution Amid Revelations of Investigative Misconduct and Systemic Failures

VANCOUVER, BC, Oct. 10, 2025 /CNW/ - Narwal Litigation LLP is pleased to announce that today all charges against Shaun Pollard, former Chief Financial Officer of Westhaven Gold Corp, have been formally dropped. Crown Counsel's decision to terminate the prosecution marks the end of a deeply troubling case that has exposed serious investigative misconduct and systemic failures within the BC Securities Commission (BCSC).

Mr. Pollard was charged in September 2024 with alleged insider trading and tipping offences under the BC Securities Act, relating to events that occurred more than six years ago.

The prosecution collapsed mid-trial during the cross-examination of the lead investigator by Joven Narwal, KC, which unearthed disturbing evidence of misconduct including the attempted destruction of investigative records by the investigator while under cross-examination and the revelation that the BCSC maintains a standing policy of destroying contemporaneous investigative notes, a practice that fundamentally undermines core disclosure obligations guaranteed by law to ensure fair trials and to protect the rights of the presumptively innocent. 

Equally disturbing, the proceedings revealed that the enforcement branch of the BCSC failed to provide the criminal branch and Crown Counsel with exculpatory evidence that confirmed Mr. Pollard's innocence.

Further allegations of misconduct revealed through evidence included misleading a judicial officer to obtain an improper unendorsed arrest warrant and constitutional breaches arising from the humiliating public arrest of Mr. Pollard at his workplace by members of the Vancouver Police Department, in clear violation of the department's own handcuffing policy instituted after the 2021 unlawful arrest of Ret. Justice Selwyn Romilly in Coal Harbour and the 2019 improper handcuffing of an Indigenous grandfather and his twelve-year-old granddaughter in Downtown Vancouver.

"This conduct represents the antithesis of what is expected of state regulatory bodies, peace officers, and officers of the court," said Joven Narwal, KC. "It has brought the administration of justice into disrepute. Mr. Pollard has always maintained his innocence, and the evidence produced confirms it. I wish to sincerely commend Crown Counsel for their professionalism, integrity and for making the right decision in these extraordinary and disturbing circumstances."

"My client has maintained faith in the system throughout and we have always been confident that justice would prevail," Narwal, KC continued. "On his behalf, I express deep gratitude and relief that this ordeal has finally come to an end. He and his family can now begin rebuilding after a year of public scrutiny, professional damage, and personal turmoil. Although the truth has prevailed, no one should have to endure what Mr. Pollard and his family experienced."

Mr. Narwal, KC is now calling upon the BC Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner and the provincial government to initiate an independent investigation into the conduct and systemic practices of both the BC Securities Commission and the Vancouver Police Department.

"This case stands as a cautionary example of the dangers of overzealous, negligent, and flawed investigations where disclosure obligations are disregarded, exculpatory evidence is withheld, judicial officers are misled, and individual liberty is trampled upon. I believe the public needs to ask difficult questions about the culture at the BC Securities Commission. Its senior leadership should answer why these abuses of power and institutional failings were permitted to occur. It is clear to me that significant changes are necessary to prevent future abuses and to restore confidence in the regulation of BC's capital markets," said Narwal, KC. 

SOURCE Narwal Litigation LLP

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