Case Studies

Mr. S had his credit card for approximately one year. He made regular monthly payments online. Every month, he said he received an email notification that his online statement was available.  At that point, he would look at it and note the due date on which his payment was due.

In December 2010, Mr. B got a five-year fixed closed term mortgage at a rate of 3.44% with his bank. In 2013, midway through the term, the branch manager suggested switching to a “blend and extend” mortgage. This would reduce the interest rate by 0.22% but extend the maturity date to 2018.

In late 2014, Mr. and Ms. J inquired about a non-arm’s length mortgage (NALM) at their bank. A NALM is where you lend money from your registered savings plans or locked-in savings plans to yourself as an individual or as a co-borrower with someone who is related by blood or marriage. 

Mr. and Ms. S invested in an exempt market fund.  The fund was comprised of a pool of mortgages.  The fund experienced financial and management difficulties.  As a result a large number of investors tried to sell their shares causing the value of the fund to plummet. 

Ms. L opened both a chequing account and a savings account with her bank. During a call with the customer contact centre, she asked whether the savings account interest rate of 1.25% was monthly or annual. 

In January of 2014, Mr. G signed a Credit Agreement when he obtained a mortgage of $122,000 and a Line of Credit (LOC) of $39,600, both secured by a property he owned and planned to rent out. The monthly payments were $1,255 for his mortgage, which he had automatically debited from his bank account, and $43 for the LOC.

Mr. A’s small business filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after several years of financial difficulties. At the time, there was a $15,000 balance on the company credit card. 

Ms. B and her friends attended a presentation for real estate investment opportunities in the Caribbean. The salesperson explained that the investment was for a condominium timeshare located on a desirable waterfront location frequented by tourists.

Mr. H agreed to purchase a restaurant-size smoker from a private seller on Kijiji. He transferred $8,000 to the seller, via multiple authorized Interac e-Transfers. The seller had promised to ship the smoker to Mr. H upon receipt of the full payment.

Mr. C owned an automotive parts store where he employed an administrative assistant with responsibility for payroll, bank statement reconciliations, and other accounting functions. Over a period of four years, she embezzled $80,000 by writing company cheques to herself or fictitious third parties, depositing them into her personal account using her bank's automated bank machine (ABM).