The plaintiff City of Saskatoon was defrauded of over $1 million when it was tricked into depositing a payment meant for a contractor into a fraudulent bank account.
The funds were dispersed by the account operator to various individuals.
The City traced and froze the funds.
On a motion to determine entitlement to the remaining frozen funds, the respondents claimed to be innocent victims who paid valuable consideration.
The court found the respondents failed to provide evidence that they were bona fide purchasers for value without notice or that they had innocently changed their position.
The court ordered the remaining funds returned to the City.