The tumultuous case of the cousins of the late Barry Sherman and their claim for a stake in the multi-billion-dollar Apotex family fortune has gone to the Ontario Court of Appeal. Wednesday, a three-justice panel heard arguments from the cousins’ lawyer that Sherman “breached fiduciary duty” by failing to protect his “vulnerable” younger cousins in a decades-old transaction involving the first generic drug firm Sherman was involved in, years before he founded Apotex.The cousins’ case has been in court at various times over the years, most recently last fall when Superior Court Justice Kenneth Hood dismissed as “nonsensical” the claims by the cousins that Sherman owed them a fiduciary duty. Hood said the lengthy case was an “abuse of process” and there was no reason for a trial. On Wednesday the cousins, represented by lawyer Brad Teplitsky, asked the court to set aside Hood’s ruling and direct that a trial be held. The appeal panel has reserved its decision.Meanwhile, the investigation into the mysterious murders of Sherman and his wife Honey continues. They were found dead in their Toronto home on Dec. 15, though they likely died two days previously. Police have ruled the deaths, by ligature strangulation, a targeted homicide. Eight months into the investigation, there have been no police updates.Apotex, Canada’s generic drug giant, was founded by Sherman in 1974. It is a private company. Sherman’s personal fortune — he owned almost all of Apotex — has been estimated at $4.77 billion.Before Apotex, when Sherman was still in university in the 1960s, he worked his summers at Empire Laboratories, a generic firm in Toronto owned by his uncle Lou Winter. Empire made tetracycline and other drugs. Uncle Lou and his wife died in 1965 within 17 days of each other. The Winters had four children under the age of 10, Jeff, Dana, Kerry and Paul, who were then adopted by another family ...
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