De Zen, Royal Group execs cleared of fraud charges

The founder and former president of Canadian pipe and profile extruder Royal Group Technologies Ltd. and a group of his top executives have been acquitted of all criminal fraud charges by an Ontario Superior Court judge.

On December 10, Mr. Justice Richard Blouin declared Vic De Zen, former Royal Group chairman and president, and five other accused not guilty in an Oshawa, Ont. courtroom.

The executives – also including former Royal Group president Douglas Dunsmuir and former chief financial officer Gary Brown – had been charged with fraud for what prosecutors said was their role in buying a parcel of land and then reselling it to Royal Group for a $6.5 million profit, as well as for charges relating to the issuance of warrants in the sale of a subsidiary.

The trial, which began in April, included testimony from dozens of witnesses including former Ontario finance minister Greg Sorbara.

After De Zen was fired as chairman in 2004, the company was sold to Georgia Gulf Corp. in 2006. Now called Royal Group Inc., the Toronto-based company is one of the largest pipe and profile extruders in North America, with approximately 3,000 workers in Canada and the U.S.