Industry Advisory - Conquest Trust Decision
February 22, 2011
As reported at TICO’s AGM on November 1, 2010, in the matter of the Conquest failure in April, 2009, TICO subsequently made a claim to the Bankruptcy Trustee against the money held in the Conquest trust account. As reported at the AGM, the Trustee in Bankruptcy denied TICO’s claim and TICO appealed that decision. To recap, Conquest Vacations Inc. (Conquest) ceased operations April 15, 2009. TICO paid $1,899,412.72 in claims and assisted 3780 consumers.
On April 17, 2009 TICO froze the trust accounts of Conquest. There was approximately $1 million in the trust accounts. Conquest filed for bankruptcy on April 27, 2009.
The motion for appeal was heard on March 24, 2010 in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. We are now able to report that TICO’s appeal was disallowed by Registrar Diamond in a decision released on December 14, 2010.
Based on the facts of the case, the court found that the consumer funds in Conquest’s trust account were co-mingled with other funds by the registrant to such an extent that the consumer funds were no longer identifiable. Based on this finding, the funds held in Conquest’s trust accounts become assets of the Estate of the bankrupt Conquest. TICO will continue to stand as an unsecured creditor against the estate of Conquest.
TICO’s Board of Directors is currently reviewing the decision and its implications. Once this review is completed, TICO will advise Registrants of any further action in this matter, as well as any steps TICO will need to take in the future to ensure that it is able to recover trust monies.
Please contact TICO at 1-888-451-TICO (8426) or email TICO at
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should you have any questions.
