Former CannTrust leaders acquitted in unlicensed growing trial

TORONTO –

An Ontario court has acquitted three former cannabis leaders charged with offences linked to unlicensed growing at a Niagara-area greenhouse.

The ex-CannTrust Holdings Inc. executives Peter Aceto, Eric Paul and Mark Litwin were freed of their charges a day after the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) revealed it no longer had a reasonable prospect of convicting the men.

The OSC asked the Old City Hall court in Toronto on Wednesday to adjourn the matter until Thursday, so it could review case law Litwin’s lawyer said would support the case being wound up.

His client, along with Aceto and Paul, were each charged with fraud and authorizing, permitting or acquiescing in the commission of an offence.

Litwin and Paul were also facing insider trading charges, and Litwin and Aceto were charged with making a false prospectus and false preliminary prospectus.

The men pleaded not guilty in October, years after their former employer’s 2018 and 2019 cannabis growing was investigated by Health Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 15, 2022