The Ontario Securities Commission has announced “a quasi-criminal prosecution” against former top executives of the Atlas Cold Storage Inc.

The charges allege former chief executive officer Patrick Gouveia and three others violated the Securities Act by filing “materially misleading annual financial statements.”

In addition to Gouveia, the executives charged are former chief financial officer Andrew Peters, along with Ronald Perryman, who was vice president for finance, and Paul Vickery, who was controller of the operating unit of the Atlas Cold Storage Income Trust.

The OSC alleges the four men “personally and as directors or officers authorized, permitted or acquiesced in the commission of an offence” through inappropriate accounting for expenses, “thereby overstating net income and distributable cash.”

They also are alleged to have failed to disclose a breach of a lending covenant.

The OSC did not lay charges against Atlas, which it said has “co-operated fully with staff of the commission since the misstatements in Atlas’ financial statements were revealed.”

The four former executives are to appear July 7 in Ontario Court of Justice on the quasi-criminal charges, and on July 9 for a separate commission proceeding.

“We are pleased with the outcome of the investigation,” Atlas CEO David Williamson said in a separate release. “Not only does it remove some uncertainty from the marketplace, but, more importantly, it enables management to direct its focus where it must be – on enhancing our operations and completing the refinancing of our balance sheet.”