Cinar made Caillou and Arthur — then its founders stole $167M and went to prison

Cinar was a Montreal-based animation studio founded in 1976 by Micheline Charest and Ronald A. Weinberg. The company produced iconic children's shows including Caillou and Arthur, and by 1999 had annual revenues of $150 million. It was one of Canada's most celebrated entertainment companies, beloved by parents and children around the world.

In March 2000, an internal audit revealed that approximately $167 million had been transferred to bank accounts in the Bahamas without board approval. The founders had been using Cinar as a personal bank account, routing funds through complex transactions to offshore holding companies. They had also falsely credited Canadian citizens for writing work actually done by US screenwriters, allowing the company to claim over $50 million in Canadian tax credits.

The stock collapsed and Cinar was delisted. Charest died in 2004 before the case was fully resolved. Weinberg was arrested in 2011 and sentenced to 8 years and 11 months in prison in 2016. The company was sold in 2003 for $190 million, rebranded as Cookie Jar Group, and was later acquired by DHX Media (now WildBrain). The scandal destroyed a beloved Canadian cultural institution.