Sunil Tulsiani is banned from trading securities for life by the Ontario Securities Commission for his part in a $4,475,000 Ponzi scheme. He recently had Edward Snowden on a live "VIP" video event, and Snowden wasted no time telling viewers what he thought of Tulsiani. "It's very unusual that you booked me for this conference because as a whistleblower it's my obligation personally and professionally to ask, is this you?" at which point Snowden did a screen share of a CBC article about Tusliani that was headlined, "Man named in $4.4M Ponzi scheme keynote speaker at Winnipeg event."
To which Tulsiani simply said, "yes." That was all the confirmation Snowden needed. He told Tulsiani that he felt very uncomfortable being on the program and urged viewers to question whether Tulsiani would be able to deliver on the promises he makes.
"The things that I've heard tonight make me very uncomfortable with this event," he said. "But my advice to everyone on this call tonight, everyone looking at this, is look up what you're getting involved in. Think hard about if you want to continue with this. Because, for me, ladies and gentlemen, for tonight, I don't. Thank you so much and good night." Then he logged out, leaving a stunned Tulsiani muttering "uh, uh, let's take a few minutes break and I'll be right back, and I'll, uh, we'll go over the whole thing with you guys. This is totally unexpected and I'm so sorry this has happened."
From Vice:
Upon return, Tulsiani blamed Snowden's exit on a "clickbait article" that did not properly clarify that he and his Private Investment Club (PIC) simply played a role in—as opposed to being convicted in—the scheme. And that avoiding his lawyer's advice to change PIC's name was proof of his integrity: "I want you to know that I'm pretty smart, and if I wanted to disappear I would have," Tulsiani said. "If I stole millions of dollars, I would not be here…I was never charged criminally…The article says 'man named,' not that he did it. That article talks about securities and all that kind of stuff."
