The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada's equivalent to the American FBI, have arrested and charged two former executives of Onco Petroleum Inc. with filing a false prospectus that resulted in a $30 million fraud against 1,400 investors. Robert Vanier (also known as Carl Joseph Gagnon) and Terry Beattie (also known as Terry Ramaga) were both charged with submitting a false prospectus, while Vanier was also charged with two additional counts of perjury. Police allege that the pair's fictitious prospectus indicated that Onco Petroleum had over $20 million available for development of its oil and gas resources, when it did not. Onco Petroleum Inc. began trading as a public company in November 2007 on the CNSX (formerly CNQ) at $5.00 per share. Its shares had dropped to a value of approximately $0.15 prior to a cease trade order being imposed in July 2008. The company never resumed trading. It has since been delisted from the stock exchange and petitioned into bankruptcy.
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