By Jamie Bradburn

After nearly a year in court, the verdict in the Livent fraud was issued this morning. Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb were found guilty of various fraud and forgery charges related to financial statements issued between 1993 and 1998. During its peak in the mid-1990s, Livent produced several successful musicals on both sides of the border, including the long run of The Phantom of the Opera. Ontario Supreme Court Justice Mary Lou Benotto praised the founders of Livent for their creative successes but admonished them for their financial cheating. No word if any masked men will break into song during the next court date on April 8.