The Ontario Securities Commission has made frequent use of new freeze-order powers to try to protect stolen money from being hidden or moved offshore by criminals, but still finds it is “very difficult” to recover money from many illegal schemes, vice-chair Monica Kowal said Monday. Speaking at a conference on victim restitution, Ms. Kowal said the OSC has taken advantage of legal changes in 2014 that make it easier for the regulator to get court orders to prevent suspected fraudsters from liquidating or moving funds held in bank or brokerage accounts used in fraud cases. In the year since the rule change, the OSC has received 26 freeze orders from courts involving $9-million in assets, compared to just eight freezes involving $1.3-million of assets in the year prior to the change, she revealed.

By: Janet McFarland
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