A Toronto businessman accused in court filings of being one of two masterminds in a multimillion-dollar COVID-19-related Ponzi scheme can’t be located as angry creditors, their lawyers and shadowy figures with ties to illegal gambling rings try to find him and their money.
Mark E. Cohen, who previously worked in the rental car industry at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, hasn’t been seen at his North York home since August, according to documents filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The documents also say that he hasn’t been in contact with investors for months.
While some of those investors have turned to the courts to challenge Cohen, others have taken matters into their own hands, CBC News has learned.
According to a source familiar with the situation, who is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, some individuals with ties to illegal gambling rings in Woodbridge, north of Toronto, have made late-night visits to the 46-year-old’s former home, and the homes of his family members, making violent threats and demanding to know Cohen’s whereabouts to get their money back.
Cohen is facing three lawsuits accusing him of convincing investors to help him buy used cars that would be resold at huge profits amid the pandemic-triggered vehicle shortage last year.
None of the allegations against him or other defendants named in the filings has been proven in court.
Investors were promised returns of as much as 13 per cent a month on their investments. Some handed over more than $5 million before Cohen allegedly disappeared with their money, according to civil court filings. In total, lawyers for the plaintiffs allege Cohen stole more than $12 million.
COVID-19 has triggered supply chain disruptions and shortages, resulting in prices of new and used cars to surge. (Getty Images)
Locating Cohen has proven difficult.
“I verily believe that Mark Cohen’s whereabouts are presently unknown,” wrote one plaintiff in an affidavit filed in court this past November. “He has refused to disclose his location since August 2021.”
According to court records, Cohen has changed his phone number and blocked others from calling him.
Lawyer Justin Anisman represents nine plaintiffs who are suing Cohen.
“He’s avoiding participation in this lawsuit for whatever reason. He hasn’t fled the country but we haven’t been able to locate him in person,” Anisman said in an interview.
Instead, the court approved lawyers to serve Cohen by email as opposed to in person, which is the usual process.
He has not filed a statement of defence or shown up to a preliminary court proceeding.
Investors suing another businessman
Cohen isn’t the only one being accused of masterminding the used car rental proposal.
Another Toronto businessman, Josh Lieff, is being sued by another set of investors going after both him and Cohen.
Lawyer Robert Karrass is representing those investors.
They allege Lieff acted as the middleman, convincing them Cohen was trustworthy, his business legitimate and accepting the money on Cohen’s behalf without doing due diligence.
“To date, we have not seen any evidence to suggest that this car scheme was in fact real, but rather that somebody was collecting this money and using it to pay off investors,” Karrass said.
To complicate matters, Lieff is also one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed by Anisman against Cohen.
In a statement to CBC News, Lieff’s defence lawyer, Gary Caplan, said his client denies all allegations made against him.
“Mr. Lieff will defend any claim he’s somehow a mastermind in a Ponzi scheme,” said Caplan. He has not yet filed a statement of defence.
Last spring, Josh Lieff and others texted about ramping up their investments in Cohen’s business, according to affidavits and exhibits filed in court. The plaintiffs allege they were led to believe that in March their money had been used to purchase seven Honda Civics and 13 Toyota Rav 4s. (Submitted by Karrass Law)
Cohen and others began contacting investors to pitch what they said would be a lucrative business venture in the fall of 2020, according to a statement of claim filed last month.
He and others allegedly promised he would be able to purchase used vehicles from rental companies across Canada. They included Jeeps, Toyota Camrys, Honda Civics and BMW X3s bought at below market value, according to the court documents.
The alleged plan was to resell them to dealerships at significantly higher prices to generate “extraordinary returns on investment,” the statement of claim says.
“My clients allege Mr. Cohen took advantage of … the well-known fact that the used car market was very profitable around this time period to trick my clients into believing this investment was legitimate,” said Anisman.
They were promised a monthly return ranging between five and 13 per cent and in “typical Ponzi scheme fashion” pressured to keep their money and profits in the business so it would continue to grow, according to the lawsuit.
In the beginning, investors would get back the promised high returns, which encouraged them to invest more, the statement of claim states.
Word of the venture spread among Cohen’s associates in the area, including business owners, a lawyer and a dentist and their family members and friends in Richmond Hill, Thornhill and Vaughan, according to motion records filed in court.
One plaintiff said he learned of the opportunity from chatting with Lieff and another dad while watching their kids play basketball outside their school, according to his affidavit. He ended up investing a total of $800,000.
Court records allege Cohen refunded money to some investors, but many were left empty-handed.
Investors became increasingly frantic trying to track down Cohen and their money this past fall, court documents allege. One plaintiff says Lieff provided a screenshot of text messages he’d sent to Cohen demanding to know what was going on with an order of used cars from Quebec. (Submitted by Karrass Law)
Cohen also allegedly drew in individuals known to be involved with illegal gambling rings in Woodbridge, according to the source.
Assets frozen. Search for millions is on
Meanwhile, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has temporarily frozen Cohen’s assets and lawyers plan to get further court-ordered access to a trail of bank records in an effort to trace where the money went.
Court documents allege significant amounts of money were transferred to Cohen personally and to numbered companies he controlled, as well as an investment brokerage.
One plaintiff alleges he discovered bank accounts shown above and associated with Cohen’s car business had been drained around the same time Cohen stopped responding to investors, according to an affidavit filed in court. (Submitted by Karrass Law)
Next month, lawyers for the plaintiffs will ask a court for a so-called Mareva injunction, which if granted would require Cohen to disclose all his assets in Canada and worldwide.
It would also compel Canadian financial institutions to reveal details of his accounts and transactions.
Toronto lawyer Monique Jilesen, who is not associated with this case but is an expert in civil fraud, said the Mareva injunction is a “powerful legal tool” to trace where and to whom money has been sent within Canada.
If it’s sent offshore, however, she said, “it can be a very tedious, long and expensive process” to recover.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
