Court File and Parties
COURT FILE NO.: CV-22-675055
DATE: 20220114
SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE - ONTARIO
RE: 213 Sterling Inc.
AND:
National Bank of Canada, Connect First Credit Union, Coinsquare Ltd., Alex Baaz, John Does, Jane Does and Doe Corporations.
BEFORE: W.D. Black J.
COUNSEL: Norman Groot, for the Plaintiff
READ: January 14, 2022
Endorsement
[1] This is an urgent motion by the plaintiff, 213 Sterling Inc., seeking preservation and Norwich Orders. More specially, the plaintiff urgently seeks to trace, preserve and recover $2.55 million in funds that were recently transferred from its bank account at Bank of Montreal (“BMO”) without the plaintiff’s knowledge, consent or authorization. The plaintiff has learned from BMO that the funds were converted by three electronic fund transfers and deposited into an account at the National Bank of Canada (“National Bank”) held in the name of “Alex Baaz”. Most of these funds were then subsequently wired by Alex Baaz from his National Bank account to an account held by Coinsquare Limited (“Coinsquare”) at Connect First Credit Union.
[2] After being alerted to the fraudulent transactions, National Bank put a hold on the account registered to Alex Baaz, which had a total balance of approximately $94,000. Likewise, Connect First Credit Union put a hold on the account for Coinsquare which contained approximately $700,000 derived from Alex Baaz. National Bank and Coinsquare have advised that they require a Court Order to continue holding these funds and that they are not opposing this motion.
[3] The plaintiff requires production of any “identity” information provided by Alex Baaz to the National Bank and Coinsquare before it can proceed with a necessary Mareva Injunction. The various aspects of the Order it seeks are to facilitate the identification of Alex Baaz and the Doe defendants so that it may trace and preserve the missing funds.
[4] Having read the material filed by the plaintiff, I am satisfied that it provides clear evidence of a scheme to defraud the plaintiff and to “hack” its accounts at BMO in order to unlawfully convert the plaintiff’s funds to the use of Alex Baaz and the Doe defendants.
[5] I am therefore prepared to grant the Order sought, in the form provided by the plaintiff.
W.D Black J.
Date: January 14, 2022