A judge in Manitoba has cleared the way for the sale of the assets of the labour-sponsored Crocus Investment Fund over five years.

Receiver Deloitte & Touche can sell the assets of the fund, which has been halted for trading since December, Deborah McCawley ruled.

Deloitte & Touche has said it wants to offer the fund’s 34,000 shareholders an interim payout of about 70¢ per share.

McCawley issued a ruling last week authorizing Deloitte & Touche to co-operate with the RCMP in an investigation of the Crocus Fund.

The RCMP have said little about their investigation.

Some 34,000 Manitobans have more than $150 million invested in Crocus, a labour-sponsored venture-capital fund with a mandate to invest in Manitoba companies.

Trading of Crocus shares halted at in December 2004 amid fears they were over-valued.

In April 2005, Crocus’s board announced its share price would be “a nickel or two” below $7 as it announced a $46-million write-down to the fund. Crocus’s shares peaked at more than $15 in 2000.

Manitoba Auditor General Jon Singleton issued a scathing report on Crocus in May 2005, outlining a lengthy list of problems with the fund, including excessive spending, poor investment and valuation practices and poor supervision from the board.