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Drabinsky goes down.

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rafterman

A sadder and a wiser man
Feb 15, 2004
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In the big scheme of things this one is pretty small but an unhappy end to a well known Toronto entertainment enterprise.

Livent co-founders found guilty of fraud, forgery


The co-founders of Livent have been found guilty of two counts of fraud and one of forgery in their business dealings with the now-defunct company.


25/03/2009 10:28:10 AM



Livent co-founders found guilty
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Garth Drabinsky, Livent Inc. co-founder arrives at Ontario Superior Court in Toronto on Monday, May 5, 2008. (Aaron Harris / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

ctvtoronto.ca

The guilty verdict against Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb was handed down Wednesday afternoon after a trial that lasted nearly 11 months.

The theatre impresarios had pleaded not guilty to all three charges.

In handing down the verdict, Justice Mary Lou Bennotto called the men's contribution to the country's entertainment industry and artistic community "spectacular," saying their work "reflected favourably on all of us in Canada."

However, she was quick to point out that the trial was not about their contributions but about the "fraudulent" accounting practices at Livent.

The verdict was rendered in front of a packed courtoom just after 10 a.m.

The lawyer for the two accused, Eddie Greenspan, exited the courtroom into an awaiting car without commenting to the hoard of media waiting outside.

The business partners were accused of directing accounting staff to improperly record expenditures in an effort to boost the publicly traded company's reported profits at a time when the company was facing a loss in revenue.

The Crown argued that as a result of the inflated profit reports, investors and lending institutions contributed more than $500 million to the company.

Defence lawyers for the two men argued that their clients had no idea records were being improperly recorded and blamed staff for making the changes without their consent.

Livent has seen enormous success in Broadway, bringing hit plays such as "The Phantom of the Opera," "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat," "Showboat," and "Ragtime" to Toronto.

However, after losing money in 1997, Livent shareholders decided to sell the company and agreed to a deal in 1998 that would put former Disney executive Michael Ovitz at the helm of the company.

The new management team clashed with Gottlieb and Drabinsky and they were dismissed from the company in August 1998. The co-founders retaliated by launching a $225-million lawsuit against them.

Drabinsky, 59, is a Tony award-winning theatre producer and a member of the Order of Canada.

He and Gottlieb, 65, face a maximum of 14 years in prison.
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rafterman said:
In the big scheme of things this one is pretty small but an unhappy end to a well known Toronto entertainment enterprise.
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I'm sure that Drabinsky will have his Order of Canada revoked. I see that these guys will serve time in jail. If this was the States, I don't think there would be any question about them serving time. I believe that they are still have charges pending in the U.S.
 
lawyerman said:
I'm sure that Drabinsky will have his Order of Canada revoked. I see that these guys will serve time in jail. If this was the States, I don't think there would be any question about them serving time. I believe that they are still have charges pending in the U.S.
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14 years in Canada = 128 years in the U.S.
 
The argument that they didn't know the accountants were falsifying the books is so weak and lame I can't believe a lawyer could even argue it with a straight face. Accountants have no motivation to perpetrate a fraud like this unless they are intimidated or paid off by the bosses.
Reminds me of the Health South fiasco, where CEO Richard Scrushy had 6 CFO's trump earnings over the years. They all testified that Scrushy was directing/intimidating them to do it, but a weak knee jury exonerated him. Like these guys, he claimed that he had no knowledge of what was going on.
 
Its the Ken Lay Enron Defense. We didn't know what was going on. Except they damn well should have known what was going on.
 
Drabinsky Goes Down

How the mighty have fallen !!!!!!!!! GREED GREED GREED!!!!!!!

Even though these two menches did wonderful things for Toronto's Theater Industry they lost sight of the real picture driven by the usual GREED and POWER!!!!!

Guess the DREAM TEAM are having nightmares now Seem Fast Eddie seems to always lose the big ones.

Knock Knock! Mr Drabinsky We are here to collect your Order of Canada and Tony Award.

Chalk up one for the good guys
 
I'm sure they'll now put on a lovely performance in the big house.
 
The way the world is going, "greed is good" may as well have been uttered by Lionel Putz.
 
Drabinsky goes down

hey there people i'm Garth Drabinsky
they say i'm the cutest boy in town
 
BottomsUp said:
Accountants have no motivation to perpetrate a fraud like this unless they are intimidated or paid off by the bosses.
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At one point, didn't they try to pin all the blame on a $40K a year bookkkeeper? (That is like Hitler blaming a foot soldier on the Eastern Front for WW II.)
 
Rockslinger said:
At one point, didn't they try to pin all the blame on a $40K a year bookkkeeper? (That is like Hitler blaming a foot soldier on the Eastern Front for WW II.)
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Weird Hitler did blame it all on other people. Amazing how all of these losers blame somebody else.

EU
 
How much jail-time is he looking at?? Does anyone know??
 
Rockslinger said:
The reality might be "house arrest" for a couple of years.
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Nice deterrent for any future crooks :rolleyes:
 
Conrad has to be sitting in his cell laughing his ass off............Greenspan gets rich his clients get jail.
 
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