Alana Spira

The applicant, a director of a corporation, sought leave to bring a derivative action on behalf of the corporation against two other directors.

The applicant alleged that the other directors misappropriated returned deposit funds from a failed real estate transaction by diverting them to another company they controlled and distributing them to themselves and select partners.

The court found the applicant was acting in good faith and that the proposed action was in the interests of the corporation.

Leave was granted to the applicant to commence the derivative action, but the request for advance costs was denied.

The plaintiffs brought a motion to hold the defendant in contempt of court for violating a Mareva injunction and subsequent court orders.

The defendant had previously agreed to a settlement to repay misappropriated funds and consented to the continuation of the Mareva injunction.

However, the court found beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally breached the orders by failing to disclose assets, moving funds through undisclosed accounts, and failing to provide evidence for his non-attendance at a previous hearing.

The defendant was found in contempt, ordered to surrender his passports, and a sentencing hearing was directed to be scheduled.

The plaintiffs brought a motion to hold the defendant in contempt of court for failing to disclose his assets as required by a Mareva injunction.

The plaintiffs subsequently requested an adjournment sine die to gather more evidence from unnamed third parties.

The court refused the adjournment, noting that civil contempt is a proceeding of last resort and should not be alleged without sufficient evidence already in hand.

The plaintiffs were directed to advise whether they were abandoning their motion.