Crocus Investment Fund

The Crocus Investment Fund was a Labour Sponsored Venture Capital Corporation in Manitoba, Canada.

In 2004-05, the company stopped trading and was forced into receivership following allegations that it misled shareholders and overvalued its assets. In addition, $10,000,000 provided by a Quebec labour sponsored venture capital corporation to the Crocus Investment Fund was classified by management and approved by PricewaterhouseCoopers Winnipeg as being an equity investment.

The fund has asserted that preferred shares were provided in exchange to the Quebec labour-sponsored investment fund and as such, the shares issued were, in substance, a liability under Canadian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (CICA Handbook Section 1000, Financial Statement Concepts and Section 3855, Financial Instruments — Recognition and Measurement).

The scandal was first exposed by Bernie Bellan of The Jewish Post and News. PricewaterhouseCoopers Winnipeg, the Crocus Investment Fund, Crocus Capital Inc., the Underwriters, the Manitoba Securities Commission, and both the former Directors and Managers of Crocus are being sued in a class action suit.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Winnipeg came to a settlement with the plaintiffs for damages of $6,000,000. This was the highest settlement award for the Crocus Investment Fund of any of the defendants in the class action lawsuits.

The former CIF Chief Executive Officer, Sherman Kreiner, currently works as Vice President Student Life at the University of Winnipeg where he was hired by Lloyd Axworthy in order to use the University's shell corporation, the University of Winnipeg Renewal Corporation, to develop revenue neutral capital projects. Kreiner initially sued the office of the auditor general (OAG) to clear his name in the Crocus scandal, but eventually dropped his lawsuit leaving his reputation uncleared.