(February 9 – 16:10 ET) – An appeal to reinstate a lawsuit by a group of investors against the Berkshire Investment Group Inc. has succeeded. The lawsuit names Berkshire founder Michael Lee-Chin Dino DeLellis, prominent fund manager Jonathan Wellum, and National Trust, among others.

DeLellis has been permanently banned from the securities industry by the Ontario Securities Commission for a host of violations, including the improper sale of limited partnerships.

The investors were appealing an earlier court order which threw out the case against Berkshire officers, Lee-Chin, Wellum, Kris Astaphan and Frank Dakos, for having no reasonable cause of action. The court in that hearing ruled that Berkshire directors and officers did not owe the investors a duty of care.

The Ontario Appeal Court has overturned that decision, acknowledging that the investors’ causes of action are “novel”, but they could still succeed, and therefore deserve to get their day in court.

“This is not a case where the law is clearly in favour of the defendants,” the court wrote, adding that the investors should have the opportunity to place their evidence before a court and put to the relevant legal tests.
-IE Staff