Posted October 21, 2026 2:10 pm.
Last Updated October 21, 2026 5:41 pm.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrived in force at Lion Electric facilities around 10:00 a.m. Wednesday in Saint-Jérôme to conduct a series of searches.
“We received several complaints from over a hundred investors,” explained RCMP spokesperson Corporal Martina Pilarova. “We began the investigation in February 2025. It is an investment fraud investigation.”
The police officer was careful to clarify, however, that “this operation is related to past activities of the company. We are not targeting the new company with the new owner. These are truly past activities.”
According to Corporal Pilarova, “the search could last several days given the size of the facilities. There will be no arrests or charges laid at this stage of the investigation.”
Bankruptcy and recovery
The former owners of Lion Electric filed for creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) at the end of 2024 due to a precarious financial situation. The electric school bus manufacturer was subsequently acquired by a group of Quebec businesspeople in the spring of 2025.
The company, and especially its former executives, are the target of a class-action lawsuit filed by small investors who believe they were misled when the company was publicly traded. These small shareholders, who lost everything, claim they were deceived by certain information provided by company executives. The Quebec government, which had supported Lion Electric in developing its battery industry, lost $140 million.
Insider trading
On October 13, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) published a press release revealing that it had reached an agreement with an investor, Claude Roy, in connection with an AMF investigation “concerning the communication and use of privileged information relating to the securities of Lion Electric Company in violation of the Securities Act.”
The AMF explained in this press release that the Financial Markets Administrative Tribunal had endorsed the agreement and imposed on Claude Roy an “administrative penalty” of nearly $1.11 million while prohibiting him from trading on the financial markets or acting in any capacity whatsoever in the field for a period of two years.
Claude Roy admitted to having carried out transactions on Lion securities in November and December 2024 while he had privileged information related to a process for the acquisition of this company and its planned placement under protection under the CCAA.
Claude Roy thus carried out nine share sale transactions in order to avoid a loss of nearly $800,000.
Lion distances himself and offers his collaboration
Lion Electric issued a statement late in the day emphasizing that “the RCMP’s investigation does not affect the company we operate today. The RCMP itself has confirmed to us that the ongoing investigation focuses solely on the company’s previous structure, prior to its acquisition in May 2025.”
The management says it is unable to comment on these events, but assures that the authorities have its full cooperation.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
