Camille Melissa Dunbar

Nadia Minetto, an accounting manager, defrauded her employer, Wescom Solutions Inc. (WSI), by using its corporate credit card to purchase Apple products and reselling them.

Gabriel Fung, through his businesses GF International and Plus One Solutions, purchased over 10,000 Apple products from Minetto for $5.2 million in cash.

WSI obtained a consent judgment against Minetto and brought an action against Fung and his entities, alleging knowing receipt or wilful blindness to the fraudulent nature of the goods.

The court found that Fung was wilfully blind to the fact that the Apple products were stolen or fraudulently obtained from March 30, 2012, onwards.

Judgment was granted against Fung and his businesses for $5,094,674.72, plus interest, with a corresponding crossclaim for contribution and indemnity against Minetto.

The applicants sought a declaration that their insurers had a duty to defend and indemnify them in an underlying tort action, along with punitive damages and costs.

The insurers eventually acknowledged the duty to defend and indemnify for reasonable legal fees.

The court found the declaration issue moot due to the insurers' acknowledgment, assessed the reasonable costs for both the tort defence and the coverage dispute, and dismissed the claim for punitive damages, finding the insurers' conduct did not meet the high threshold for such an award.