Ontario’s government reports that victims of a recent fraud received compensation of more than $600,000 under Ontario’s Civil Remedies Act.

The government says that almost $600,000 was forfeited to the Crown as a result of a case, in which individuals from across Canada were victims of a scheme that involved using their locked-in retirement pensions as collateral for cash loans, if they transferred the funds to the lender. They were also advised, falsely, that there would be no tax consequences for the loan, it adds.

The government returned that money, plus accrued interest, for a total of $633,141, directly to the 39 victims of the unlawful activity, it reports.

The Civil Remedies Act authorizes the Attorney General to ask civil courts to freeze, seize and forfeit the proceeds and instruments of unlawful activity to the Crown. Civil forfeiture focuses solely on the connection between property and unlawful activity and is not dependent on any criminal charges or convictions. The legislation allows the Crown to recover property acquired through unlawful activity to prevent property from being used to engage in further unlawful activities, and to compensate victims.

To date, under the Civil Remedies Act, the Attorney General has distributed a total of $965,320 in compensation for victims of unlawful activity and $763,000 in grants to police services for programs to assist victims and prevent unlawful activities that result in victimization.