Court File and Parties
COURT FILE NO.: CV-18-00592751-0000 DATE: 2019/03/04 ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
BETWEEN:
Tarpin Lumber Incorporated AND Tarpin Truss Inc. Plaintiffs
- and - KAVEH TABIBI, SARA MESHGI, DAVOUD REZA SHAMS and ROSHANAK RAFATI Defendants
COUNSEL: James Klein for the Plaintiffs
HEARD: February 27, 2019
PERELL, J.
Reasons for Decision
[1] This is an undefended motion to consolidate eleven Superior Court actions and an undefended motion for a summary judgment in the eleven actions.
[2] On February 27, 2019, with written reasons to follow, I made the following endorsement:
This is a motion to consolidate this action with ten actions in the Superior Court against the defendants Kaveh Tabibi and Sara Meshgi and others. The claims against the others have been settled and only the claims against the defendants Tabibi and Meshgi remain. The plaintiffs Tarpin Lumber move for also for summary judgment in all of the remaining claims, which all involve similar facts and issues of law. The defendants Tabibi and Meshgi, who are now self-represented, did not file any material to resist the motions and did not appear although duly served. For written reasons to follow, I grant the relief requested. I have signed the judgment and awarded costs.
[3] Beginning in May 2013, the Plaintiffs Tarpin Lumber Incorporated and Tarpin Truss Inc. (collectively “Tarpin”) employed Kaveh Tabibi as a lumber salesman. Sara Meshgi is Mr. Tabibi’s wife.
[4] Mr. Tabibi obtained contracts for the sale of lumber products and trusses to Tarpin’s customers comprised of builders and homeowners constructing residential homes. It was his responsibility to obtain customer contact information, and customer credit information, and to arrange for the contracting, the shipping, and the payments of the customer’s orders. Where the customer did not pay Tarpin directly, it was Mr. Tabibi’s responsibility to collect and remit payments.
[5] On November 27, 2017, Mr. Tabibi informed Tarpin that he was leaving for a trip to Dubai to attend his brother’s wedding. Around the same time, Ms. Meshgi also departed Canada to go to Iran. Neither has returned to Canada.
[6] The following month, Tarpin discovered that from July 2017 to November 2017, Mr. Tabibi had forged contracts and misappropriated funds. Tarpin discovered that Mr. Tabibi sold Tarpin’s products at discounted prices in return for cash payments that he misappropriated. Mr. Tabibi and Ms. Meshgi had absconded with the misappropriated funds. As a result of the fraud, Tarpin suffered a loss of over a million dollars with respect to fourteen customer accounts.
[7] Tarpin commenced eleven separate Superior Court actions against Mr. Tabibi, Ms. Meshgi, and the customers who had paid cash for discounted goods. Mr. Tabibi’s and Ms. Meshgi’s co-defendants agreed to settle for modest sums, but after the payment of legal fees from the settling defendants, there was no net recovery to offset Tarpin’s losses. Tarpin filed notices of discontinuance in the eleven actions, save and except for the defendants Tabibi and Meshgi.
[8] Tarpin moved to have the eleven actions, which raise similar factual issues and identical legal issues, consolidated and concurrently it brought summary motion in the eleven actions.
[9] Mr. Tabibi and Ms. Meshgi, who were represented litigant until recently, did not file material to defend the summary judgment motions and did not return to Toronto to oppose the summary judgment motions. In the eleven actions, they pleaded identical defences of denial but provide no evidence to support their bald denials.
[10] There are no genuine issues requiring a trial. Tarpin in a massive motion record provided overwhelming proof that it had been defrauded and that Mr. Tabibi and Ms. Meshgi are liable for one or more of breach of trust, knowing receipt of trust funds, fraud, or unjust enrichment.
[11] Tarpin provided unrefuted evidence that supported the calculation of its losses, which I find as a fact to be $827,394.97 for the eleven Superior Court actions.
[12] I award costs of the actions fixed at $238,270.30, all inclusive, on a substantial indemnity basis.
[13] For the above reasons, I made the endorsement set out above and signed the judgment in the eleven consolidated actions.
Perell, J. Released: March 4, 2019
COURT FILE NO.: CV-18-00592751 -0000 DATE: 2019/03/04 ONTARIO SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE
BETWEEN: Tarpin Lumber Incorporated AND Tarpin Truss Inc. Plaintiffs
- and - KAVEH TABIBI, SARA MESHGI, DAVOUD REZA SHAMS and ROSHANAK RAFATI Defendants
Reasons for Decision
PERELL J. Released: March 4, 2019