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.…

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.…

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.…

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…

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.…

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 decision of Justice Tôth held that it will no longer be necessary for prosecutors to prove fault in the boardrooms or at the highest levels of a corporation in Canada: the fault even of middle managers may suffice. To read…

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.…