Fraud Recovery

Piercing the Corporate Veil – the Need for Clear Fraudulent or Improper Conduct

By John Pirie & Ben Sakamoto on January 10, 2019

Piercing the corporate veil remains a difficult feat in Ontario. Recently, in Cornerstone Properties v Southside Construction, Justice Hockin of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice refused to pierce the corporate veil to hold a corporation liable for a costs award against its subsidiary. This decision reaffirms that courts will only pierce the veil where a corporation is being abused to the point where it is not functioning as a bona fide corporate entity, and instead is being used as a vehicle to facilitate fraudulent or improper conduct.
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Consent judgment survives bankruptcy

By Ben Sakamoto & Michael Nowina on December 7, 2018

In Water Matrix Inc. v Carnevale, Justice Sanfilippo found that a consent judgment may survive bankruptcy if it arises from a claim that is based in fraud. This allowed a company that was defrauded by a former employee to continue to enforce the company’s judgment after bankruptcy.
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Bank’s Duty of Care to victims of Ponzi Scheme

By Michael Nowina on September 21, 2018

In 1169822 Ontario Ltd. v. Toronto-Dominion Bank 2018 ONSC 1631 Justice Dunphy of the Ontario Superior Court decided a case where investors in a failed Ponzi scheme sought recovery from the financial institution used by…
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Fraudulent Conveyance Claim flounders on procedural shores

By Michael Nowina & Glenn Gibson on June 28, 2018

In Esfahani v. Samimi, 2018 ONCA 516 the Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed that a plaintiff pursuing a fraudulent conveyance or preference must recognize that the legal landscapes changes with a bankruptcy and that the…
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When Should a Defendant Bring a Motion for Summary Judgment in Fraud Proceedings?

By Glenn Gibson & John Pirie on April 24, 2018

This is our third and final post on the complex fraud carried out by Norma and Ronald Walton, and the Ontario Court of Appeal decisions arising from their scheme. In our earlier posts, we focused…
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B.C. Court finds Civil Fraud by Omission in Wang v Shao

By Brendan O'Grady & John Pirie on April 3, 2018

We previously reported in an article last August that Ontario Courts are increasingly finding civil fraud on the basis of material omissions, as in the United Kingdom. This trend has continued in a recent decision…
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Constructive Trust as a Remedy for Breach of Fiduciary Duty: Court of Appeal Clarifies Test for Granting Proprietary Remedies

By Glenn Gibson & John Pirie on March 12, 2018

This is our second of three posts on the Ontario Court of Appeal’s recent decision in DBDC Spadina Ltd. v. Walton 2018 ONCA 60 arising out of a complex fraud scheme perpetrated by Norma and…
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Stranger Danger: When Companies associated with a Fraudster should be Liable for the Fraudster’s Breach of Fiduciary Duty

By Glenn Gibson & John Pirie on February 20, 2018

The decision in DBDC Spadina Ltd. v. Walton, 2018 ONCA 60 provides insight on when corporations that are de facto under control of a fraudster can be held liable for claims of knowing assistance…
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Supreme Court of Canada Shifts the Risks of Cheque Fraud

By Ahmed Shafey on November 27, 2017

In a narrow 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada has laid out a new formulation of the “fictitious or non-existing payee” defence under section 20(5) of the Bills of Exchange Act (BEA…
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Documents Prove Fraud in Summary Judgment Decision

By Brendan O'Grady on November 8, 2017

Summary judgment of an action may only be granted when there is no genuine issue requiring a trial and this can be difficult to prove in fraud cases where credibility is often an important factor. In the recent Ontario Superior Court decision in MacNamara v. 2087850 Ontario Ltd. (Strathcona Construction), 2017 ONSC 499, Justice Akbarali granted summary judgment finding both fraud and grounds to pierce the corporate veil of a corporate defendant. This case demonstrates how liability for even the most serious causes of action can be established by way of summary judgment where a full evidentiary record allows the Court to find the necessary facts, apply the law, and determine that there is no genuine issue for trial.
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Canadian Fraud Law