Canada Case Law

12007231 Canada Inc. v. Foster

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court held the plaintiffs met the threshold under Rule 7-1(11) to compel further production from Barber because the requested financial, tax and rental records relate directly to contested issues of commingling and receipt/use of funds; the court also ordered specific, narrowly-described production from the non-party Bank under Rule 7-1(18) because the documents were precisely specified and potentially probative of material facts; Barber and the Bank must produce the listed documents within 21 days, plaintiffs must pay the Bank's reasonable charges and must provide counsel for Barber with…

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• Document production
• Discovery
• Non-party production
• Relevance
• Rule 7-1
• Guano test

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Zhang Estate v. Yin

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court dismissed a late application to call three new witnesses at trial, finding unfair prejudice for two known fact witnesses and hearsay concerns for the foreign-lawyer witness.

• Late witness disclosure
• Trial management and pre-trial orders
• Hearsay and principled exception (necessity and reliability)
• Prejudice from late disclosure
• Admissibility of foreign investigative material
• Late-witness-disclosure

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Surefire Dividend Capture, LP v. National Liability & Fire Insurance Company (Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance)

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

Leave to intervene was granted because the Ancillary Receiver satisfied the third branch of r.13.01 (there are questions of law and fact in common between BRC and the appeal), the proposed intervention is narrow and will not unduly delay or prejudice the parties, and leave is appropriately conditioned on the Ancillary Receiver obtaining a confirmatory order from the U.S. Court by the specified deadline; terms and limitations on participation were imposed to protect the appeal timetable and parties' rights.

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• Intervention
• Insurance coverage
• Fidelity bond
• Alter ego doctrine
• Standing
• Statute of limitations

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Sase Aggregate Ltd. v. Langdon

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

Appeal dismissed because the application judge reasonably found Sase failed to trace its stolen funds into the Wagg Rd. Property except for an admitted $177,632.38, Langdon credibly and documentarily accounted for independent legitimate funding and lacked actual or constructive knowledge, and therefore a constructive trust over the property proceeds was not warranted.

Source excerpt

• Constructive trust
• Tracing
• Knowing receipt
• Knowing assistance
• Unjust enrichment
• Fiduciary duty

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Mughal v. Bama Inc.

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The trial judge applied the correct legal test for conspiracy to injure, the factual findings that MA Khan participated in creating a false corporate presence and diverted funds to ET Zone were reasonably open on the evidence, and the appellant's conduct justified the exceptional costs award; accordingly the appeal was dismissed and the costs decision was upheld.

Source excerpt

• Conspiracy to injure
• Civil fraud
• Costs — substantial indemnity
• Misrepresentation
• Adjournment/fresh evidence

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Caja Paraguaya de Jubilaciones y Pensiones del Personal de Itaipu Binacional v. Garcia

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

Majority allowed appellant's appeal on the personal liability finding: the trial judge erred in law by relying on constructive/objective knowledge to ground a knowing assistance finding and made a palpable and overriding factual error in finding the appellant signed cheques/authorisations linked to the trust funds; accordingly the $3,000,000 personal judgment against Leanne Duscio was set aside and a new trial ordered on the knowing receipt claim while Catan and others remain liable for the $3,000,000 deposit.

Source excerpt

• Knowing assistance
• Knowing receipt
• Constructive trust
• Tracing
• Wilful blindness
• Remedies and costs

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R. v. Roberts

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

On a fraud over $5,000 conviction, the court imposed a conditional sentence of two years less one day, finding significant mitigating factors and limited moral blameworthiness.

• Fraud over $5,000
• Conditional sentence
• Denunciation and deterrence
• Delay as mitigating factor
• Restitution and dna sampling
• Fraud-over-5000

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EtherDEG Ltd. v. Liu

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court dismissed a BC action for lack of jurisdiction, holding New York was the more appropriate forum, and awarded special costs against the plaintiffs.

• Forum non conveniens
• Territorial jurisdiction (cjpta)
• Parallel proceedings/multiplicity of actions
• Exclusive jurisdiction and choice of law clauses
• Jurisdictional response (rule 21-8)
• Special costs

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R. v. Burke

Court

Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal

Convictions for fraud, forgery and uttering forged documents and the sentence including a 12-month custodial term, 24 months probation and restitution of $35,821.85 are affirmed because the trial judge's factual findings of forged documents and a deliberate scheme were supported by evidence, delay was not unreasonable or was largely attributable to the appellant, no timely or factually grounded s.8 challenge was made, self-representation did not render the trial unfair, and the restitution order was a lawful exercise of discretion for an egregious breach of trust.

Source excerpt

• Unreasonable delay (s.11(b))
• Self-representation
• Section 8 search and seizure
• Restitution orders (s.738)
• Forgery and uttering forged documents
• Breach of trust

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United Kingdom v. Dhinsa

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

British Columbia Supreme Court granted committal in an extradition matter after finding the Record of the Case supported a plausible fraud case against Lakhvir Singh Dhinsa.

• Committal
• Record of the case
• Sufficiency of evidence
• Actus reus and mens rea of fraud
• Admissibility of foreign evidence
• Limited weighing of evidence

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