Here's Johnny! Quebec Police get their final man in the Cinar fraud scandal.

According to the Globe and Mail, "John Xanthoudakis was arrested Tuesday morning at Montreal’s Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau airport, where he arrived on a flight from Bermuda.

"Mr. Xanthoudakis is the suspected mastermind behind the alleged fraud involving the animation company, which has been at the centre of a 10-year police investigation."

The Globe and Mail article goes on to infer some shocking ties between Cinar, Xanthoudakis, the Norshield funds and Montreal's Mafia.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec/quebec-police-arrest-suspected-mastermind-in-alleged-cinar-fraud/article1942492/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2011/03/15/xanthoudakis-cinar-fraud.html 

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20110315/arrest-cinar-alleged-fraud-110315/

Where's Johnny?

John Xanthoudakis, if nothing else, is consistent.
First, he managed to hide millions of dollars and he got countless people to search in vain to find them. Now he has managed to hide himself so that Sûreté du Québec are searching for him while they have managed to arrest three of the other four charged in this fraud. 

According to the Montreal Gazette,
On Wednesday, SQ Sgt. Martine Isabelle said one of the men had fled the country, 
but wouldn't say which one. Xanthoudakis is believed to have a residence in Greece.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/still+sought+Cinar+scandal/4381849/story.html

Also according to the Montreal Gazette,

Weinberg was arrested at Trudeau Airport Thursday night when he returned from the Dominican Republic. Already arraigned are Richmond Hill, Ont., resident Hasanain Panju, 44, Cinar’s former chief financial officer, and Lino Matteo, 48, former president of Mount Real. Police are searching for Norshield president John Xanthoudakis, 52.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Weinberg+charged+with+fraud+released/4420230/story.html

To summarize; the police said that one man has fled the country and that Xanthoudakis may have a residence in Greece. He is the only one who has not been arrested. Remember that much of the millions of dollars that disappeared has never been found. Now think, residence in Greece. Heeeeeeeere's Johnny.

Norshield back in the News - Warrant for John Xanthoudakis' arrest - Fraud Charges pending

Although there is no immediate benefit to investors of Norshield, it is also of no surprise to see that John Xanthoudakis has been charged with fraud in connection with Cinar and Norshield. It appears that four men in total have been charged with fraud, two from the Cinar corporation, Xanthoudakis from Norshield and Lino Pasquale Matteo of the Mount Real, yet another Canadian fraudulent fund in which 1,600 clients were defrauded of $130 million dollars.

The charges relate to misappropriation of $120 million dollars of the Cinar Corporation's funds which were invested for the personal profit of then CEO & CFO. The allegation is that Xanthoudakis helped to invest the funds in the Bahamas while Matteo helped to hide the investments. The warrant lists 36 criminal charges including fraud, forgery, and use of a false prospectus.

Some irony in this story is that the AMF (Quebec's securities commission) had earlier fined both of Cinar's CEO &CFO $1 million for these illegal actions. Why didn't they uncover more info? Why didn't they move on criminal proceedings? Did the $1 million each ever get paid?

Here are the links to the news stories.

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/headline_news/article.jsp?content=b6120293

http://www.globaltoronto.com/arrests+million+fraud+charges+Cinar+Corp/4373234/story.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec/quebec-police-seek-cinar-founder-in-decade-old-case-that-brought-down-animator/article1927243/

http://money.canoe.ca/money/business/canada/archives/2011/03/20110302-161910.html

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110302/mtl_cinar_110302/20110302/?hub=MontrealHome

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Arrest+made+Cinar+Norshield+fraud+scandal/4373094/story.html

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/breakingnews/quebec-police-issue-arrest-warrant-for-cinar-founder-ronald-weinberg-117264608.html

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cinar-ceo-hasanain-panju-arrested-163383