Administrative Penalty – Extension
Application
Green Block Mining Corp. (“Green Block”) sought a second extension of the deadline for payment of the outstanding amount of an administrative penalty the AUC ordered in Decision 26379-D05-2023. The AUC granted Green Block’s first extension request in Decision 28792-D01-2024, issued in December 2023, after Green Block made a partial payment of the administrative penalty.
In the AUC’s view, this request was effectively an application to review and vary the orders in both Decision 26379-D05-2023 and Decision 28792-D01-2024, the latter of which set the current February 21, 2024, deadline for payment.
Green Block requested a further extension to September 30, 2024, and submitted that, as a good faith gesture of its commitment to fully pay the administrative penalty, it would make an additional partial payment.
Decision
The AUC did not grant a further extension to Green Block to pay the balance of the administrative penalty ordered in Decision 26379-D05-2023.
Pertinent Issues
Green Block explained that it experienced difficulty raising money to pay the outstanding balance because it had still not completed the audit of its financial statements. Green Block was not able to say when the audit will be completed but suggested it will not be before May 2024.
The AUC noted that the issue of the outstanding audit of Green Block’s financial statements has been ongoing for more than 20 months. In the settlement agreement, which was approved in Decision 26379-D05-2023, Green Block agreed to file its audited financials by December 31, 2023. Based on the history of delay in the completion of the audit of its financial statements, the AUC questioned whether Green Block would complete the audit by May 2024, as suggested. Green Block ought to have arranged its affairs to ensure payment of the administrative penalty in a timely manner, as agreed upon with the AUC enforcement staff.
Notwithstanding Green Block’s latest additional partial payment of $20,000.00 and the challenge of raising money, the AUC denied Green Block’s request for an extension to pay the outstanding balance of $186,500.00 of the administrative penalty ordered in Decision 26379-D05-2023.
