Sharkish Hedge Fund Hires Rafalko as Controller

Chapman made news this spring when it forced the resignation of both the chief executive and the chairman of Montreal-based animation company Cinar Corp. His fund, in collaboration with other stockholders (including two of Cinar's co-founders) installed their own board and they are now looking for a buyer.

Mr. Chapman has compared himself to a shark that smells blood in the water. In the case of Cinar, that did not require a uniquely keen olfactory sense. Its stock (CINRB: Nasdaq) fell from $4 to $1.70 in October and November 2001, after a series of scandals. Cinar was accused of falsely claiming that certain of its cartoons were written by Canadians in order to qualify for tax credits. Separately, an audit committee found that management had invested US$122 million offshore without the approval of the board. (In January, Quebec's prosecutors announced that they had not found evidence sufficient to justify pressing the tax fraud charge.)