Three former CannTrust executives were charged with multiple offences last week, some two years after the cannabis producer lost its license following revelations of illegal growing at its Fenwick facility.
The charges were laid by the RCMP’s Integrated Market Enforcement Team, and the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). Former CEO Peter Aceto, one-time board Vice-chair Mark Litwin, and disgraced former Chair Eric Paul face various charges including fraud, making false or misleading statements to the OSC, and insider trading.
“These allegations relate to efforts to conceal the illegal growing of cannabis,” the OSC said in a statement. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
“I look forward, as does Peter and his family, to a public hearing where the evidence will show that he acted with integrity at all times,” Aceto’s lawyer Frank Addario told the Canadian Press.
Aceto, Litwin and Paul had all been dismissed by CannTrust since the 2019 revelation that the company engaged in illegal cannabis growing at its Fenwick facility. The scandal, sparked by a whistle-blowing former employee, resulted in the revocation of CannTrust’s Health Canada growing licence. While that licence was reinstated last summer, the beleaguered company was delisted by both the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.
“CannTrust remains focused on resolving its civil litigation claims and fully restoring its operations as a leading Canadian recreational and medical cannabis producer,” the company stated in a June 22 press release.
