QuadrigaCX’s bankruptcy proceedings are being moved out of Halifax, after a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge approved Ernst & Young’s (EY) request to move the case to Toronto.
EY said legal proceedings into Quadriga’s affairs will require multiple court appearances in Toronto.
According to the Canadian Press, EY, which is acting as Quadriga’s bankruptcy trustee, said the request to move the proceedings to Toronto was based on where other investigations into Quadriga’s affairs are based. Last month, EY said the RCMP had made several “formal document requests” to EY, confirming that it is complying with four active law enforcement investigations.
“As the majority of the professionals are located in Ontario, there would be significant cost savings to transferring the proceedings to Ontario,” EY said at the time the request was made, noting at it had been contacted by representatives from other federal agencies in Nova Scotia and British Columbia, but did not share names. “There are very few remaining ties to Nova Scotia at this time.”
In June, the FBI launched its own inquiry, searching for victims of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange platform. The Ontario Securities Commission also confirmed to it has launched an investigation. EY said that these investigations will require multiple court appearances in Toronto.
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Quadriga’s former CEO Gerald Cotten reportedly passed away in December from complications with Crohn’s disease. His death barred all access to Quadriga’s funds and coins, making millions of dollars’ worth of crypto unobtainable. More than 76,000 unsecured creditors, virtually all of them Quadriga users, claim they are owed $214.6 million, comprised of $74.1 million in cash and $140.5 million in cryptocurrency. The fight to release the locked crypto was approved by a Nova Scotia court to transition its restructuring proceedings into a bankruptcy case in April.
In June, EY revealed that Cotten used customer funds to trade crypto for his own account on competitor exchanges, and customers’ funds were purportedly used to provide for Cotten’s assets, which included a private jet, luxury vehicles, investment holdings, gold and silver coins, a personal yacht, and several properties in Nova Scotia and BC.
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