Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 6, 2007, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg repress. Com City Winnipeg free press thursday december 6, 2007 b3 by Geoff Kirbyson f ormer Winnipeg jets Captain Thomas Steen and other former shareholders in Maple Leaf distillers and Protos inc. Are one step closer to getting some of their Money Back. A Trio of court of Appeal judges upheld an earlier decision against Costas Ataliotis and David Wolinsky the two principals of the now failed companies for $ 875,000. In a written decision announced wednesday Justice Michel Monnin said the remedy imposed is significant but so too Are the investors losses. Any investor in a company such As Protos takes some element of risk with his or her investment but that investor is entitled to have that investment dealt with fairly. That was not the Case with Protos he wrote. There Well might be no illegality in the manner Wolinsky and Ataliotis dealt with the company but their conduct prevented the shareholders and creditors from managing their investments in an informed and knowledgeable manner. They were entitled to much More than they received from Wolinsky and Ataliotis Dave Hill a partner at Hill Dewar Vincent representing the plaintiffs said wednesdays decision was satisfying but now hers turning his attention to collecting on the judgment. He said he has already registered a certificate of judgment against a Park Boulevard West House owned by atari Otiss wife Suzanne. Hills Challenge is to convince a judge that Suzanne Ataliotis holds either All or 50 per cent of the House in Trust for her husband. Paul Walsh a partner at Walsh & company who represents Wolinsky said he will consider an Appeal to the supreme court of Canada. He said any Money that Ataliotis or Wolinsky took out of the company was rightfully theirs. They did not take one red cent that did not belong to them. They advanced much More Money into these enterprises than the creditors and shareholders and they lost a Fortune when the companies failed he said in an interview. Joining Steen and his wife Mona Are fellow plaintiffs de Danylchuk owner of Lone Star motors or. Ken Murray a prominent plastic surgeon and his wife Judith Max Feierstein an information technology consultant and former jets owner Barry Shenkarow on behalf of the Winnipeg jets employee benefits plan. The group had initially sought $ 1.75 million when it filed an oppression remedy in the Spring of 2006. They alleged Wolinsky and Ataliotis unfairly disregarded the interests of shareholders by failing to inform them of major business decisions failing to seek their approval for transactions and using the company to pay for personal expenses. Maple Leaf distillers a blender and bottler of alcoholic beverages and Protos International a holding company with interests in a diverse Range of businesses including Salisbury House restaurants were once the focal Point of a Multi million Dollar business Empire controlled by Wolinsky and Ataliotis. In a decision handed Down last March in court of Queens Bench Justice Brenda Keyser said the pair used Maple Leaf distillers and Protos As their own personal Bank accounts. Feierstein said a separate statement of claim from essentially the same investors against the Astra credit Union is working its Way through the courts. They alleged the credit Union which merged with Assiniboine credit Union in the summer of 2006, participated in a Cheque kiting scheme that allowed Maple Leaf and Protos to Access millions of dollars in unauthorized Loans. They claim Astra was obligated to implement appropriate procedures that would ensure the two companies be Able to withdraw funds in excess of their authorized Legal limits. Geoff. Kirbyson free press. My. Ca by Dan Lett former Crocus investment fund ceo Sherman Kreiner is one step closer to his Day in court. The Manitoba court of Appeal decided unanimously wednesday that Kreiner is free to Challenge former auditor general Jon singletons landmark investigation and report into the collapse of Crocus. Ken Dolinsky the lawyer representing Kreiner said the court was persuaded there is Merit to a reinerus Case and that issues raised about the manner and scope of singletons investigation and the conclusions reached in his report should be heard by a court. What i took from the courts decision was that it saw the issues raised by Sherman As issues of broader interest that can go Forward on their merits and be decided by a court Dolinsky said. In the fall of 2006, Kreiner filed an application to have the court review the method used and conclusions in his investigation of the Crocus investment fund. Singleton launched the investigation shortly after the fund stopped trading in december 2004. Kreiner has asked that certain parts of the report be quashed. Kreiner argued in court documents that the report released in june 2005, irreparably damaged his career and paralysed Manitoba ass venture capital markets. Kreiner has claimed Singleton overstepped his Powers and failed to consider conflicting accounts of what happened to the doomed fund. A Manitoba court of Queens Bench judge determined that a reinerus suit had the Merit to proceed to trial. The office of the auditor general appealed that decision setting the stage for wednesdays judgment. Bill Haight the lawyer representing the office of the auditor general said hers not in a position to comment. In previous pleadings Haight has said a reinerus suit is frivolous. Haight has also argued that Singleton cannot be sued because his work is protected by legislation granting the auditor general privilege. Despite wednesdays decision Dolinsky acknowledged its too Early to schedule a trial Date. The office of the auditor general could make application to have this appellate decision reviewed by the supreme court of Canada he added. Dan. Lett free press. My. Ca Wolinsky and Ataliotis s conduct prevented the shareholders and creditors from managing their investments in an informed and knowledgeable manner. Court of Appeal rules in favour of Protos investors Crocus sex ceo wins Legal Victory Appeal court Grants right to fight report Marc Gallant / Winnipeg free press moment of remembrance u of m engineering students hold a minute of silence wednesday to remember the female engineering students who were murdered by Marc Lupine 18 years ago today at Mont realms Cole pol technique ;