In March 2015, we published a blog post entitled Why Defining Fraud is Important to Fraud Victims. We now provide an update to that earlier publication following the May 2017 release of the decision in Lee v. Transamerica Life Canada, 2017 BCSC 843 .   Why Pleading Civil Fraud Is Important As we reported in our prior blog post, pleading fraud in civil cases — as opposed to negligence …Read More

At Investigation Counsel PC, we receive inquiries from fraud victims, often through the internet, requesting information on alternatives to traditional civil recovery due to the cost of private litigation. Recently we received an inquiry from lawyers in California as to whether their client could make a recovery through Ontario’s Civil Remedies Act, S.O. 2001, C.28 (“CRA”) . California counsel had read online the press release of the Government of Ontario …Read More

Promissory Note and Other Unsecured Loan Cases We often receive inquiries from people who have loaned money without formal security, only to find that the person they loaned the money to have used their money for purposes other than they discussed, have refused to pay it back, and have assigned themselves into bankruptcy. The recent criminal fraud case of R. v. Fontana, 2016 ONSC 7076, tells the story of the …Read More

There are often multiple victims in investment fraud cases, and sometimes some victims, in their desperation for recovery, attempt to have their claims given preference over those of other victims. This blog tells the story of how the Courts may deal with victims seeking preference over other victims. The Ponzi Scheme of Harry Snoek Jr. The story of Harry Snoek Limited Partnership (Re), 2011 ONSC 6667 is known to me …Read More

We have often cautioned fraud victims against relying on Canada’s criminal justice system to obtain a recovery. See our blog post What Fraud Victims Should Know About Problems with Criminal Restitution Orders In July 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada placed another big limitation on the ability of fraud victims to obtain justice through the Canadian criminal justice system with the release of the decision of R. v. Jordan; see: …Read More

An Update on Fraud Recovery through the Criminal Process On September 13, 2016, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in R. v. Angelis, 2016 ONCA 675. The decision provides clarity for fraud victims who hope to obtain a recovery through the criminal justice system’s forfeiture of proceeds of crime provisions.  This blog is Part II on our publication: What Fraud Victims Should Know About Criminal Forfeiture Orders. We …Read More

An Update on Fraud Recovery through the Criminal Process On September 13, 2016, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in R. v. Angelis, 2016 ONCA 675. The decision provides clarity for fraud victims who hope to obtain a recovery through the criminal justice system’s forfeiture of proceeds of crime provisions.   What Happened to Angelis? The trial judge imposed a sentence that included a term of imprisonment of …Read More

On July 14, 2016, the Ontario Securities Commission’s Office of the Whistleblower issued a press release entitled OSC Launches Office of the Whistleblower. This new whistleblower program has been reported with some fanfare in the business press – see OSC Will Now Pay Up to $5M for Tips as First In Canada to Offer Whistleblower Rewards:  http://business.financialpost.com/news/fp-street/ontario-securities-commission-will-now-pay-up-to-5-million-for-tips-as-first-in-canada-to-offer-whistleblower-rewards   The actual OSC press release of July 14, 2016, stated:   The …Read More

At Investigation Counsel, we are often asked by fraud victims whether they can ask a Court for damages greater than their initial loss of capital investment or the amount taken by employee theft. We generally recommend to clients that if they can move for default or summary judgment they should first seek only the initial investment or theft loss, as the analysis required for that amount is relatively straightforward, and …Read More