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by Mike Caswell

Frank Barone, a New Jersey man who avoided jail after pleading guilty to charges arising from the manipulation of Vancouver's Canafarma Hemp Products Corp., must pay $4.7-million in restitution, a New York judge has ordered. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) The order comes as part of a case in which prosecutors said that Mr. Barone helped to mislead investors about a hemp chewing gum product called "Yooforic." He and others touted Canafarma as having $25-million in revenue from the product as the company raised money from investors in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The $4.7-million in restitution is set out in a judgment filed on Friday, Jan. 3, in federal court in New York. The order is a joint one, which means that Mr. Barone and three co-defendants will remain liable for the money until it is repaid in full. (In practical terms, Mr. Barone must hand over 10 per cent of his income until the money is paid or 20 years have passed.)

The sanctions come after Mr. Barone pleaded guilty to charges that included wire fraud, securities fraud and related conspiracy counts. Probation officials had recommended a jail term of four years or more, but Mr. Barone avoided jail after prosecutors did not ask the judge for any prison time. They said that Mr. Barone provided assistance in the investigation and prosecution of others. The details of that assistance were not public, but two other defendants, Vitaly Fargesen and Igor Palatnik, later pleaded guilty as part of the same case. Mr. Fargesen received four years in jail and Mr. Palatnik received 6-1/2 years.

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