When it comes to fraud, people sometimes think that they can claim innocence if they remain unaware of the details. However, a finding of willful blindness, or deliberate ignorance of what should be obvious, is not enough to escape liability in the case of fraudulent activities. A recent decision demonstrated that a defendant deliberately chose […]
Category Archives: Fraud Litigation
Ontario Establishes Serious Fraud Office
This past summer the Ontario government, quietly created a new organization whose responsibility is to investigate and prosecute complex fraud cases and white-collar crime. It is known as the Serious Fraud Office, or SFO. The office is modelled after similar agencies in the United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal is to combine the […]
Judgment Debts, Fraud and Bankruptcy
Many people assume that bankruptcy protects them from all creditors, across the board, however, this is not the case. In certain circumstances, debts may still be enforced even after a discharge in bankruptcy. When a creditor sues a debtor and a judgment is awarded, this judgment may survive an assignment into bankruptcy in certain circumstances. […]
Constructive Trustees, Fraud, and Knowing Receipt
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC), in Citadel General Assurance Co. v. Lloyds Bank of Canada, established the three ways in which a stranger to a trust can be held liable as a constructive trustee for a breach of that trust. They are: as a trustee de son tort; for knowing assistance in a fraudulent scheme […]
Paulus v. Fleury: Resolute Advocacy or Civil Fraud?
Facts before the Court of Appeal Background: The plaintiffs and the defendant were involved in a car accident. At the pre-trial conference in their action for damages, plaintiffs’ counsel made submissions indicating he had “independent” witnesses to the collision that had resulted in injury to his clients. He described the witnesses as “good people … independent […]
Recovery for Employee Fraud
What remedies does an employer have when it discovers that it has suffered damages as the result of the fraud of one of its employees? It can certainly terminate the employee without cause. However, can it also sue the employee to recover any loss suffered or sue any third parties who benefited or participated in […]
Fictitious, Non-Existing, And Imaginary Friends: Bank Liability For Cheque Fraud
The Supreme Court of Canada recently released its decision in Teva Canada Ltd. V TD Canada Trust, 2017 SCC 51 [Teva]. In it, the divided court found TD Canada Trust and Bank of Nova Scotia liable to Teva Canada Limited for $5.4 million dollars because of a cheque fraud carried out by a rogue Teva employee. […]
Civil Fraud Judgment
We succeed in obtaining judgment in civil fraud action on behalf of our clients following motion for summary judgment. A link to the decision can be found here.