Sutts, Strosberg LLP, a Windsor, Ont.-based class action law firm, says that it will ask the courts to dismiss the last remaining suits in the Bre-X scandal, concluding that there’s no reasonable prospect of collecting, even if they are successful.
The firm said Monday it will bring a motion before Justice Perrell on February 20 seeking to dismiss the remaining Bre-X class actions without costs.
“Over the last year, the actions by Bre-X’s trustee in bankruptcy in Ontario, Alberta and the Cayman Islands have been dismissed and a Mareva injunction in the Cayman Islands has been dissolved,” it notes.
Sutts, Strosberg says that the plaintiffs’ attorney, Harvey Strosberg, has concluded that the dissolving of the Mareva injunction — a form of asset freeze order — in the Cayman Islands means, “that there is no reasonable prospect of a recovery even if this class action was ultimately successful.”
Among other things, the legal firm notes that it will also seek an order declaring that US$573,908.77 in trust should be allocated 67% to the Ontario Class and 33% to the U.S. Class. It also seeks over $450,000 in legal fees, noting that it has completed $1.65 million in unbilled work on the case. And, an order declaring that approximately $4.2 million should be paid to the Access to Justice Fund operated by the Law Foundation of Ontario; or, an order directing the trustee to operate a claims’ process.
Sutts, Strosberg notes that the class actions, which originated in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice due to the Bre-X bankruptcy, are now the only remaining actions against the estate of David Walsh, Bre-X’s former president, his widow; its former chief geologist, John Felderhof, his former wife; Spartacus Corp.; and, Stephen McAnulty and Nancy McAnulty.