Merchant Law Group FeesACTIVE

In 2016, after the Tax Court of Canada found that the Global Learning Giving Initiative tax shelter (the “Gift Program”) was a sham, Merchant Law Group LLP (“MLG”) commenced a proposed class action (the “Piett Action”), on behalf of individual donors who participated in the Gift Program.

This action against MLG alleges that MLG, Mr. Piett and others commenced a campaign to convince Gift Program participants to “sign up” for the Piett Action by paying a fee to MLG. As part of its campaign, MLG  represented that:

• The proposed class members had to join or sign up for the Piett class action in order to receive any benefits
• To join the Piett class action, class members had to pay a fee to MLG
• The fees paid to MLG would be used to further the Piett class action

In fact, affected individuals do not have to sign up to participate in Canadian class actions. Any person who meets the class definition will be automatically included, unless they choose to exclude themselves by opting out. MLG’s misleading representations resulted in over 3,500 former Gift Program participants making unnecessary “retainer” payments, totalling approximately $1.7 million collected by MLG.

The plaintiff in this action against MLG is a former Gift Program donor who made a $500 “retainer” payment to MLG because he believed that he would not otherwise be allowed to participate in the Piett action. He alleges on behalf of all of the members of the proposed Class, that MLG is liable for fraudulent misrepresentation/deceit, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of trust, committing an equitable fraud, and unjust enrichment. He seeks the return of the full amount of the “retainer” payments, as well as aggravated and punitive damages.