T. Mathews

The plaintiffs, a corporation and one of its directors, brought a motion for a Mareva injunction and other relief against the defendant, the other director.

The dispute arose after the defendant applied for a CEBA loan and transferred corporate funds to his personal account.

The court dismissed the motion for a Mareva injunction, finding no strong prima facie case of fraud and that the balance of convenience favoured the defendant.

However, the court ordered the defendant to provide an accounting, produce personal banking records, and deposit outstanding receivables into the corporate account.

The court also provided directions for the ongoing management of the corporation, requiring both directors to authorize future transactions and repay any unauthorized personal withdrawals.

The five accused, charged with fraud and conspiracy related to a multi-million dollar tax avoidance scheme, brought applications for a stay of proceedings due to unreasonable delay under s. 11(b) of the Charter.

The total delay was approximately 44 months.

The court dismissed the delay application, finding the delay justified by the exceptional complexity of the case, which involved voluminous disclosure and multiple accused, as well as transitional exceptional circumstances under the Jordan framework.

The court granted an adjournment for three accused to retain counsel but denied a severance application by the remaining two accused, emphasizing the strong presumption in favour of joint trials for alleged co-conspirators.