A court order freezing donations to the Freedom Convoy in Canada’s capital has been extended until at least the end of March.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Calum MacLeod granted Wednesday a rarely used form of an injunction sought by lawyers representing Ottawa residents and business owners behind a proposed class-action lawsuit for the disruption brought by the trucker demonstrations against COVID-19 rules.
The freeze covers the assets of convoy organizers Patrick King, Tamara Lich, Christopher Garrah, Nicholas St. Louis, Benjamin Dichter, and the nonprofit group Freedom 2022 Human Rights and Freedoms, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
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While the proposed class-action lawsuit seeks damages, some of that money is also being eyed by the government, which employed the federal Emergencies Act to freeze bank accounts aimed at putting a financial stranglehold on the convoy that blocked traffic and made its presence known with constant honking.
The injunction restricts the leaders from “selling, removing, dissipating, alienating, transferring or assigning” up to $20 million in assets. Some of the assets, including money raised on the crowdsourcing platform GiveSendGo, have already been turned over to KSV Advisory, which has been tasked with holding them in escrow while litigation plays out.
MacLeod said he granted the injunction to allow prosecution more time to track down assets, a process made trickier with cryptocurrencies in play, ahead of a court date scheduled for March 31.
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GiveSendGo told the court it is refunding some convoy donations. While Monique Jilesen, a lawyer representing the proposed class suit, said that action may be in breach of the order, MacLeod said the freeze is not meant to cover undistributed funds, according to the Canadian Press.
The freeze had been extended previously Feb. 24 and would have expired Wednesday had the court not approved another extension.