International fugitive Ronald Weinberg, 59, was apprehended after disembarking from a 10 pm flight arriving from the Dominican Republic Thursday at Trudeau Airport.
Weinberg, a founder of Cinar, a once-successful Montreal-based children's television production company, was freed on $140,000 bail in a brief court hearing Friday afternoon in which he was charged with 32 counts of securities-related fraud.
Weinberg was ordered to reside at his Pointe Claire home.
His bail was set higher than his co-accused because he received permission to go to New York State where he owns property. But he will not be permitted to leave North America.
Weinberg's lawyer says she's confident he will beat the charges.
"Mr Weinberg came back to face the charges, we're both very confident that the judicial process will prove his innocence," she said..
Weinberg previously settled several civil lawsuits involving his alleged mismanagement of investment of Cinar funds.
He is the third of four suspects to be apprehended in connection to the alleged fraud worth $120 million.
Ex-Cinar chief financial officer Hasanain Panju, 58, and Lino Pasquale Matteo, president of Mount Real, were arrested March 2nd.
Asset management executive John Xanthoudakis, president of Norshield Financial Group, is also accused in the alleged scheme and remains on the loose.
A massive provincial police probe launched in 2003 put police on the trail of the alleged misdeeds. The charges allege that the four operated a major fraud scam by using the Cinar operation.
The four face a total of 36 charges. These range from fraud, forgery, using fake documents and publishing a false prospectus.
Weinberg and Panju allegedly invested funds without the approval of the production house's board of directors.
Police also allege Xanthoudakis, 52, helped invest the money in the Bahamas while Matteo, 44, helped him camouflage the investments.
The scam was allegedly masterminded between August 1998 and March 2000.
