B.C. seeks forfeiture of money, gold bars linked to failed cryptocurrency company QuadrigaCX

A co-founder of a bankrupt Vancouver cryptocurrency exchange company used client money for his own personal use and financial gain, the RCMP alleges.

The accusation that Michael Patryn benefited from using QuadrigaCX client money through unauthorized trades and falsifying documents is made in a B.C. Supreme Court civil lawsuit filed by the province. The government is asking to keep more than $600,000 in cash, gold bars, watches and jewellery from a safety deposit box and an account in a CIBC bank in Vancouver.

Previously, only the other company co-founder, Gerald Cotten, who died in India in 2018, was accused of having benefited from alleged fraudulent behaviour that resulted in the clients in Canada and other countries losing an estimated $169 million.

A 2020 report from the Ontario Securities Commission, which did not result in charges, concluded that Cotten carried out the fraud by himself. The Ontario financial markets regulator said evidence indicated Patryn had ceased to be associated with QuadrigaCX after 2016 and that the majority of client funds were deposited after Patryn’s departure.