As a result of a settlement conference presided by the Honourable Louis Lacoursière of the Quebec Superior Court, an out-of-court settlement has been reached between the plaintiff, acting on behalf of all the owners of promissory notes issued by Corporation Mount Real, Gestion MRACS Ltée, Investissements Real Vest Ltée and Corporation Real Assurance Acceptation, and the five corporate defendants, that is the auditing firms and the trustees.
The amount of the settlement is around $ 43 million. The settlement puts an end to the class action against the settling defendants, without an admission of liability. The class action continues against the authors of the fraud, of which Lino Matteo who is currently serving an 8 year prison sentence.
Contexte
On November 8, 2008, Mrs. Andrée Ménard filed a motion for authorization to institute a class action against the authors of the fraud, the auditors and the trustees
On August 25, 2011, the Honourable Jean-François Buffoni of the Quebec Superior Court authorised the class action. Since August 2011, the parties have been preparing the file for the trial on the merits.
From Jully 11 to 21, with the help of Lacoursière J., the plaintiff, the auditors and the trustees have reached an agreement which, if approved by Buffoni J., will put an end to the class action against those defendants.
Upcoming steps
The parties to the settlement must write a detailed agreement which will detail the claims process and the distribution of monies to members.
The Agreement must then be approved by judge Buffoni, who was appointed to hear all proceedings related to this class action. This process will take several months.
The members of the class action will receive notices informing them of the details of the settlement, the moment when the settlement will be submitted for court approval and the manner in which to give an opinion on the agreement and the claims process.
