Sportsnet.ca — Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk and three Biovail company executives have been charged with accounting fraud by Canadian and U.S. regulators.
The Ontario Securities Commission and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are alleging Biovail filed inaccurate financial statements and misled investors in recent years, writes the Canadian Press.
“Biovail and senior executives engaged in a pattern of systemic, chronic fraud that impacted its public filings of quarterly and annual reports over the course of four years,” Mark Schonfeld, director of the SEC’s New York regional office, said in a statement.
“In an effort to conceal the fraud, Biovail’s senior officers intentionally misled the company’s auditors and the investing public, showing their complete disregard for their responsibilities to shareholders.”
The Ottawa Senators owner and founder of Biovail, Melnyk denied all charges by the OSC and SEC, saying “I intend to vigorously contest the absolutely false allegations of the SEC and OSC and am confident that I will prevail once all the facts are heard.”
