July 26, 2021 – One of the first fraud cases brought against a Canadian cannabis company will be argued, in part, in a room sealed to nearly everyone but staff of the Ontario Securities Commission – a move legal experts say is an unprecedented level of secrecy for a securities hearing.
In September, 2019, the regulator levelled allegations of wrongdoing against Canadian Cannabis Corp. and its three founders: Ben Ward, Peter Strang and Silvio Serrano. The regulator alleged that Mr. Strang and Mr. Serrano misused about $3-million in investor funds, either diverting cash to themselves or family members, rather than putting it toward a grow-light business they were developing. Mr. Ward, the company’s then chief executive officer, was also accused of fraud for, among other reasons, not doing more to recover $800,000 worth of lighting equipment the OSC alleges “disappeared under suspicious circumstances.”
The case took an extraordinary turn last year, when the trio were provided with what is known as disclosure – the evidence the OSC is relying on to sanction them and is required to supply to anyone who it has accused of wrongdoing. Globe and Mail reports. | READ MORE
