FACTOR Canada says it has been the victim of a serious cyber theft.
Court documents filed by the Canadian Talent Recording Assistance Foundation, a music funding body, show that $9.8 million was stolen from a Scotiabank account earlier this year.
FACTOR provides millions of dollars in funding to thousands of artists and music organizations across Canada—last year, the organization awarded $50 million in grants. Now it claims an amount equivalent to nearly a fifth of annual distributions was diverted by cyber thieves to a numbered company.
Company shareholder James Campagna then allegedly transferred $9.4 million into a cryptocurrency-owned account and converted the funds into cryptocurrency.
Today (November 29), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice held a hearing on this matter.
In a statement posted on the foundation’s website titled “FACTOR’s response to Scotiabank cyber theft: the facts,” the company clarified the side of the story reported in the media and said its purpose was to “provide Scotiabank with The bank defends itself against the “baseless accusations” made against our systems and employees. “
“FACTOR was indeed the victim of a significant financial crime that occurred on June 12, 2024, resulting from a one-time wire transfer of $9,772,875.33 through our Scotiabank account on ScotiaConnect,” the statement read.
But FACTOR’s response adds new details to the story, particularly regarding Scotiabank’s involvement.
The organization said it reported the crime to law enforcement on June 14, but Scotiabank “admits that it never reported this financial crime to law enforcement.”
The statement also claimed that the transfer amount was 300 times larger than any previous transfer from the account and that “no elements of this highly unusual, suspicious and illegal activity were alerted.”
If funds are not recovered quickly, there is reason to be concerned that artists who rely on FACTOR funds for recording, music video production, touring, etc. may be affected.
More on this story as it develops – Rosie Roundcourt
Drake tells interviewer to switch off weekends and wear Blink-182
Drake has a lot of enemies now.
Following the release of Kendrick Lamar’s new album, but before news broke of Drake filing two separate legal actions against his parent label, Universal Music Group and Spotify. The rapper went live on Kick on Sunday (November 24) with Quebec streamer xQc.
You never know what Drake is going to say on a live mic, so a lot of fans tune in to see if he’s going to talk about the Kendrick beef or any other hot topic. While confirming an upcoming Australian tour and updating his album collaboration with PartyNextDoor, he also threw some subtle shade at his former friend The Weeknd.
When his song “Starboy” started playing, Drake quickly told xQc to “turn that song off.” When the host asked him why he didn’t listen, he replied “We are real 6ixers, we don’t listen to that”. He tells him to open Blink-182 instead. “I want to hear real shit,” he said on the “damn” sound.
The Weeknd was born in Scarborough, Ontario, also known as The 6ix. The Weeknd’s career began with Drake, but the two also had their own conflicts. In June, The Weeknd was spotted in the audience at Kendrick Lamar’s “Pop Out” concert, which included performing all of the rapper’s diss tracks as well as multiple scathing “Not Like Us” performance.
Former Toronto Raptors player DeMar DeRozan also attended that concert. This clearly upset Drake, who berated him during a recent game broadcast. Apparently, he also had issues with The Weeknd.
Drake didn’t mention Kendrick or the title of his new album, but did indirectly reference Kendrick and his “false accusations.” “You need facts to get rid of me, fairy tales won’t do,” he said. –Richard Trapenski
