Dividing up a shortfall from a Ponzi scheme was first posed before the United States Supreme Court in 1924. The infamous case of Cunningham v. Brown dealt with the original Ponzi scheme of Charles Ponzi and distributing remaining funds back to victims when his investment scheme was finally unravelled, but left victims with only a fraction of their original investments. Unraveling a Ponzi scheme to return a shortfall of money back among its victims is akin to untangling the noodles in a half-eaten bowl of spaghetti at a buffet and trying to determine who cooked each strand. Where multiple chefs (all using the same recipe) all had their spaghetti thrown in one giant pot, it would be a seemingly impossible task to untangle the half-eaten bowl to see which chefs’ spaghetti was still in that bowl.

In Boughner v. Greyhawk Equity Partners Limited Partnership (Millenium) John Pirie and Dave Gadsden (who acted to recover funds  in parallel civil and receivership proceedings for the fund’s largest investment group) address the current Canadian law regarding the allocation and distribution of remaining funds in a Ponzi investment fraud to investors. The Greyhawk case provides considerable insight into the challenges that investors face over the remaining pool of money once a Ponzi scheme is unravelled, but also illustrates the challenges courts continue to face in making such determinations. The issue in the case was whether to distribute pro rata on the basis of original contributions to the fund (the pro rata method), or pro rata on the basis of actual fund performance during the period that each investor was actually invested in the fund. The later method is known as the lowest intermediate balance rule.

Status Update: On January 18, 2013, Ontario’s Court of Appeal decided in this important case held that Ontario courts should attempt to apply the lowest intermediate balance rule when dealing with competing claims to comingled funds. A pro rata allocation is only available when the calculations for the lowest intermediate balance rule are unworkable.

Print:
Email this postTweet this postLike this postShare this post on LinkedIn
Photo of John Pirie John Pirie

John Pirie leads Baker McKenzie’s Canadian litigation and government enforcement group and is a member of the North American group’s Steering Committee. A Chambers ranked trial lawyer, he handles complex business disputes, investigations and white-collar matters, particularly those with multi-jurisdictional aspects. John’s focus…

John Pirie leads Baker McKenzie’s Canadian litigation and government enforcement group and is a member of the North American group’s Steering Committee. A Chambers ranked trial lawyer, he handles complex business disputes, investigations and white-collar matters, particularly those with multi-jurisdictional aspects. John’s focus includes a significant fraud and financial recovery component, having pursued and defended a range of leading cases in the area. He has deep experience with emergency relief measures, including global asset freeze orders and remedies available in bankruptcy and receivership. John has acted for governments, banks, investors, multinational corporations, officers and directors, a stock exchange, a securities regulator, members of the judiciary and an array of professionals. Clients interviewed by Chambers Global say: “John Pirie has an excellent command of the law and clients’ needs and expectations” and “he is an experienced courtroom advocate who is particularly well regarded for his civil fraud expertise.”

Photo of David Gadsden David Gadsden

David Gadsden has deep experience in fraud and financial crime matters.  He is counsel on multijurisdictional fraud investigations, including related civil disputes and regulatory proceedings.  David acted as counsel for a primary defendant in the Sino-Forest litigation, the largest securities fraud class action…

David Gadsden has deep experience in fraud and financial crime matters.  He is counsel on multijurisdictional fraud investigations, including related civil disputes and regulatory proceedings.  David acted as counsel for a primary defendant in the Sino-Forest litigation, the largest securities fraud class action in Canada.  He is known for his pragmatic advice on fraud prevention and investigations, and has extensive expertise in ‘Ponzi scheme’ litigation and asset recapture, including cross-border tracing, Anton Piller orders and Mareva injunctions.  David has been recognized as a “Litigator to Watch” in Lexpert’s annual Guide to the Leading US/Canada Cross-border Litigation Lawyers in Canada and has been ranked in Legal 500 for dispute resolution.