One of the most powerful pre-judgment remedies available to a plaintiff is a Mareva injunction freezing the defendant’s assets before trial. The Mareva injunction is a powerful tool for levelling the playing field when dealing with those who, left to their own devices, would dissipate their assets in order to frustrate the claims of their creditors. Due to its extraordinary effect, the parties to such an injunction can seek to thaw the freezing order to access funds or assets. As recent case law has shown, the tests to be met differ for defendants and plaintiffs, and a number of factors ought to be considered before a request is made to thaw assets frozen under a Mareva.
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March is fraud prevention month in Canada
March is Fraud Prevention Month in Canada and a number of national and regional initiatives have kicked-off to promote fraud awareness. Federal government agencies, commercial organizations, and non-profit groups have rolled-out campaigns to highlight the impact of fraudulent activities, including:
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Conviction in investment fraud case leads to jail time for father and daughter
On May 30, 2014, Mr. Justice Richard Danyliuk of the Saskatchewan Queen’s Bench sentenced Ronald Fast to seven years in prison for fraud and ordered him to pay restitution of $16.7 million. Fast’s daughter, Danielle Fast-Carlson, was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $1 million in restitution arising out of the same circumstances.
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Provincial securities regulator seeks expanded powers to combat fraud and insider trading
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has begun discussions with legislators and law enforcement agencies in an effort to expand its powers to include wiretapping rights with respect to parties under investigation.
As the country’s largest and most influential securities regulator, the OSC’s policies and decisions impact the majority of brokerages, mutual funds, and pension funds in the country. In recent years the OSC has placed emphasis on the need for more comprehensive anti-fraud and law enforcement strategies.
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Strategy for uncovering a suspected fraud
How do you uncover a suspected fraud when you cannot obtain any information from the suspected fraudster in the first place? And what do you do if the suspected fraudster has avoided complying with a court order to produce documents? One under-utilized strategy is to seek to appoint a receiver over the books and records of the alleged fraudster.
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Attempt to thwart a previous judgment through a related corporate entity found to be preference under the Assignment and Preferences Act
In Wolf v Anstett, 2012 ONSC 3220, a creditor used section 5 of the Assignment and Preferences Act (the Ontario provincial legislation which may be applied to set aside transactions made by an insolvent person or a “person in contemplation of insolvency”, with an intent to give an unjust preference to a creditor) and Rule 16.08(16) of the Rules of Civil Procedure[i] to halt a would-be fraudster from attempting to thwart a previous judgment by using a newly incorporated entity to receive payments that should have went to the plaintiff.
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Club promotors found liable for fraud cannot claim indemnities from third parties
In Century Services Inc. v. New World Engineering Corp., the Ontario Superior Court of Justice held that defendants – found liable for having bilked investors out of $20 million – could not claim contribution and indemnity from their lawyers and the lenders in their scheme. This, despite the fact that the Court concluded that the lenders – and at least a few of the solicitors involved – failed to carry out their due diligence responsibilities.
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Shift of criminal liability from boardroom to the factory floor
On August 9, 2013, the Quebec Superior Court signalled a fundamental change, if not a revolution, in the law of corporate criminal responsibility with the judgment of R. c. Petroles Global inc(“Global Fuels”). The
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When would silence or non-disclosure of material facts amount to fraudulent misrepresentation?
In Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp v. Gray (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp v. Gray, 2013 ONSC 1986), the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (“CMHC”), the insurer of mortgages, attempted to block the release of a mortgage debt from a bankrupted individual who was a victim of a fraudulent scheme, but in CMCH’s view, was either aware of the scheme or that he was reckless and/or willfully blind to the scheme.
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Griffiths Energy comes clean with a voluntary disclosure about a foreign bribe
On January 25, 2013, Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Scott Brooker accepted a joint submission by the Crown and the lawyer of Griffiths Energy International Inc., a private, Calgary-based oil and gas company, on
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