CA$50M P.E.I. Online Gambling Lawsuit Sees Motion Hearing on Monday after Recent Settlement

Prince Edward Island was well on its way to become the online gambling hub of Canada back in 2010 and for several years its chances were considered to be high. The CA$50-million online gaming lawsuit with some 14 defendants is still in progress, but only recently financial technology solutions company Capital Market Technologies settled matters with Paul Jenkins. He is one of the defendants of the long-winded lawsuit and February 11 is going to witness a motion hearing.

Ever since March 2017, Capital Market Technologies has been battling for justice in court, as it accused the province in failing to meet up previously established conditions for collaboration. In 2010 the financial technology solutions company entered into a memorandum of understanding together with Innovation P.E.I. mandating exclusivity in order to establish the area as online gaming regulatory hotspot. The MOU was signed between Capital Market Technologies’ subsidiary of which Mr. Jenkins was a sole director.

Breach of Fiduciary Duty Made Paul Jenkins Defendant

It should be taken into account that according to Mr. Jenkins at the time he was unaware that he is a sole director, which explains why he made his exit from the structure of the company upon finding out. He claimed that in 2010 Capital Markets Technology President Paul Maines was utilizing his business contacts. In June 2018 he financial technology solutions company pinpointed him as a defendant on the case charged for “breach of fiduciary duty.”

This essentially means that he failed to protect the best interest of the company. According to the accusations, Mr. Jenkins allowed third parties to have access to information that was not supposed to be revealed at that time. In response to this, Mr. Jenkins was quick to file a counterclaim against Capital Market Technologies stating that he has not received some CA$141,614 from the company.

Now the judge that oversees the case, Justice Gordon Campbell, dismissed both claims. The two parties have agreed to settle matters, but for the time being no further information about their negotiations have been issued. What has been confirmed is that Mr. Jenkins would have to cover the legal costs of the battle amounting to CA$150,000. They will be taken from the previously established security deposit reaching CA$348,716.

February 11 Sees Motion Hearing

Prince Edward Island Supreme Court is where the legal battle takes place for the past nearly two years and there are still about 14 defendants remaining. Among the defendants in this lawsuit, there are former Prince Edward Island Premier Robert Ghiz, as well as former Finance Minister Wes Sheridan. Both Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Maines were striving to introduce a financial transaction platform that would facilitate future operation of the online gaming sector.

Even though there was an existing clause for exclusivity mandating that the province should collaborate solely with the company, province officials kept in touch with financial services company Newcourt Capital. Meetings between the parties took place mid-2012 when Chris LeClair, a former Chief of Staff of then-premier Ghiz proposed meeting with Newco Chief Executive officer Keith Laslop.

The conversation was disclosed in court with the help of emails part of Capital Market Technologies’ filings. This was not the financial company’s first attempt to take matters to court, but it is the first successful one. It could be recalled that 2016 saw Justice Campbell dismiss a similar lawsuit filed by the company.