Samil Chagpar

The plaintiff sought to enforce an unpaid oppression judgment against the defendant Daniel Xiao by bringing a fraudulent conveyance and conspiracy action against him, his former wife, and her parents.

The court found that the defendants fraudulently conveyed a Toronto property to the parents and subsequently used the proceeds and other funds to purchase a Vancouver property in the wife's name to defeat the plaintiff's claims.

The court rejected the defendants' laches defence, finding no acquiescence or irredeemable prejudice despite a lengthy delay.

The court allowed the tracing of funds and awarded judgments of $60,000 against the parents and $175,000 against the former wife.

The plaintiffs and defendants were all victims of a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by an investment advisor.

The plaintiffs, who were late entrants to the scheme, provided bank drafts directly payable to the defendants, who were early entrants, under the mistaken belief they were investing in legitimate bridge financing.

When the scheme collapsed, the plaintiffs sued the defendants for the return of their money, alleging unjust enrichment and mistake of fact.

The plaintiffs brought a consolidated motion for summary judgment.

The court dismissed the motion, finding genuine issues for trial regarding whether the defendants were unjustly enriched or if the payments were made under a mistake of fact, and noting that the novel legal issues and ongoing bankruptcy proceedings required a full trial.