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by Mike Caswell

Just over a week after losing their main witness, Boston prosecutors have dropped their insider trading case against Kris Bortnovsky and Ryan Shapiro. The government had cited the men for a $4-million scheme that included Ontario's Aphria Inc. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) According to prosecutors, the men learned about a takeover for Aphria that had not yet become public, and traded based upon that information.

The dismissal is contained in a one-sentence order handed down in federal court in Boston on Wednesday, Dec. 7. The order simply states that the indictment is dismissed without prejudice, which means that prosecutors may revive the matter in the future. There is, of course, no word on when or if they could bring the charges again.

The order says nothing of the reason for the dismissal, but it comes just over one week after the prosecution's main witness backed out of a deal to co-operate with the government. The witness was a man named David Schottenstein. According to prosecutors, Mr. Schottenstein provided the tips that the men traded on, with Mr. Schottenstein having been in close contact with an insider. Prosecutors had charged Mr. Schottenstein alongside the others, but he entered into a deal with the government in which he pleaded guilty (and was to receive some credit on sentencing for his co-operation).

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