The duo that brought such long-running theatre hits as Phantom of the Opera and Showboat to North American audiences orchestrated and directed an elaborate fraud scheme that ended up bilking investors of millions of dollars, prosecutors alleged yesterday.
In an opening statement yesterday, the Crown accused impresarios Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb of deliberately misstating the health of Livent Inc., the company they co-founded, to raise $500 million in financing and boost its share prices.
“The accused directed and participated in large-scale accounting fraud that lasted over five years,” lead prosecutor Robert Hubbard told the court.
Drabinsky, 58, a member of the Order of Canada, and Gottlieb, 64, pleaded not guilty yesterday to two counts of fraud over $5,000 and one count of uttering forged documents.
