On March 2, Quebec police made an unexpected arrest of Hasanain Panju, the former CFO of Cinar, which succumbed to epic corporate scandals at the end of the 1990s, writes The Hollywood Reporter.
On March 2, Quebec police made an unexpected arrest of Hasanain Panju, the former CFO of Cinar, which succumbed to epic corporate scandals at the end of the 1990s, writes The Hollywood Reporter. Additionally, arrest warrants were issued for Ronald Weinberg, Cinar co-founder; John Xanthoudakis, president of Norshield Financial Group; and Lino Pasquale Matteo, president of Mount Real.
The arrests come after the Sureté du Québec's decade plus investigation into corruption at Cinar Corp., which was bought by investors led by Nelvana co-founder Michael Hirsh in 2004. The company was renamed Cookie Jar Ent.
In 2003, the former Cinar execs escaped tax fraud charges over allegations they put Canadian citizens' names on scripts written by writers from the U.S. in order to secure Canadian tax breaks.
This week's arrest surround charges that the execs allegedly funneled company funds to offshore accounts from August 1998 through March 2000. The foursome has been charged with 36 counts of fraud.
Rick DeMott
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