: SEC charges cannabis company Cronos and former executive with accounting fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged cannabis company Cronos Group Inc. CRON with accounting misconduct and former chief commercial officer William Hilson with fraud and abetting the company’s violations, the regulator said Monday.The SEC said that in three separate quarters between 2019 and 2021, Cronos submitted financial statements with material accounting errors. It also alleged that Hilson entered into an undisclosed oral agreement to sell cannabis raw material and then repurchase cannabis product in the following quarter, which led to further accounting errors.Cronos and Hilson agreed to settle the matter without admitting or denying fault, with the company agreeing to retain an independent consultant to advice on financial reporting and accounting controls. Hilson agreed to being barred for three years from serving as an officer or director of a public company.The SEC did not impose a financial penalty after Hilson agreed to pay roughly $54,000 to the Ontario Securities Commission for similar conduct.

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