$53 Million Default Judgment: Investors Are Encouraged to Help Trace the Assets of the Former Chief Executive Officer

On March 26, 2026, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice released a decision placing Benjamin A. Ward (“Ward”) in default of a $53 million fraud judgment sought by Andrew Morganti on behalf of investors.

Andrew Morganti encourages members of the public to assist with tracing the assets of Benjamin A. Ward. Ward was associated with Alpha Blue Ocean, Canadian Cannabis Corp., CCC Escrow Inc., Campbellco003 Group Inc., Kanbos Invest AG, Sails Club, SVG Properties LLC, Trotwood Invest AG, and Wayland Group Corp. The recovered assets will be distributed to investors who lost money investing in Wayland Group Corp. (f/k/a Maricann Group Corp.).

The wrongful conduct of the case against Ward is described in the Wayland Certification decision as well as in the two Mareva injunction decisions that Morganti obtained for the Plaintiffs: Stajic v Wayland Group and Ward, 2025 ONSC 6233; Stajic v Wayland Group and Ward, 2025 ONSC 6393.

The Plaintiffs’ claim arises out of misrepresentations made by Wayland in public filings and statements made during Ward’s tenure as CEO and which were authorized by Ward. These public statements misrepresented material facts relating to Wayland’s business, including its capital structure, finances, operations, and, in particular, the progress it was making in the much-anticipated build-out of its cannabis production facility in Ontario. Ward was the CEO and responsible for the content of Wayland’s disclosures.

The certified class definition is:

1. ‘Class Members’ means all persons, other than Excluded Persons, who acquired Wayland’s common shares, and other securities sold by Wayland to purchase common shares, during the Class Period and who held some or all of those common shares until after the release of at least one of the Public Corrective Disclosures;

2. ‘Excluded Persons’ means (i) Wayland’s executives, and their family members and any entities that owned a financial interest in which made investments in Wayland; (ii) Benjamin Ward, his family members and business associates, and any entity that he or a family member owned which had a financial interest in Wayland; (iii) Yoel Altman, Jeffrey Ayott, Roger Daher, David Danzinger, Andre DeFrancesco, John Esteireiro, John Fitzgerald, Errol Gordon, Peter Kirby, Paul Leggett, Craig Bridgman and their business and family investment companies; (iv) all the entities identified within Wayland’s news release dated January 31, 2019; (v) any person that received Wayland’s securities from the acquisitions of Colma Pharmaceutical SAS, Haxxon AG, Nanoleaf Technologies Inc., Proimaging AG, and Theros Pharma Ltd; and (vi) Alpha Blue Ocean, Inc., DEMECAN Holdings GmbH, European High Growth Opportunities Securitization Fund, Grandhill Capital Inc., INEG Holdings UG, and their related companies and investments;

3. ‘Class Period’ means the opening of December 13, 2017 through the close of trading on August 2, 2019; and

4. ‘Public Corrective Disclosures’ means Wayland’s documents released on April 23, May 6, and August 2, 2019.

The Honorable Morgan J., Ontario Superior Court of Justice, held:

1. Just as issues of the individual damages of each member of the class will be analyzed and resolved in a claims administration process, the reliance of each class member on the impugned statements – an ingredient in a common law misrepresentation claim – can likewise be resolved in the post-judgment claims administration process. As Justice Strathy stated in Brown v. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, 2012 ONSC 2377, at para. 195, and as approved by Divisional Court in Fantl v. Transamerica Life Canada, 2015 ONSC 1367, at para. 45:

2. I do not regard the potential need for individual assessments as detracting from the preferability of a class action. Not only does s.6(1) of the CPA specifically exclude this factor from consideration, but practical experience has shown that systems can be devised for the fair and efficient resolution of such issues.

3. The Plaintiffs shall have Orders against Ward granting leave under the OSC and certification under the CPA. They shall also have judgment against Ward in the amount of $53,616,189.00.

4. As Plaintiffs’ counsel explained in a post-hearing response to my query, this damages calculation represents 47% of the overall losses caused by Ward. Counsel has also explained that the amount calculated by Mr. Edwards sufficiently discounts the overall loss to the class members that it can be taken to already factor in the recent $8,000,000 settlement with the other directors and officers of Wayland: see Stajic v. Wayland Group Corp., 2026 ONSC 1680. There is no need to further discount the amount of damages.

5. Mr. Edwards’ evidence is uncontroverted and credible. Ward’s conduct in authorizing the misrepresented public statements was wilful and, therefore, the damages caused by that conduct are not subject to any ceiling. The class is entitled to damages as Mr. Edwards has presented and calculated them.

Wayland Group Corp., f/k/a Maricann Group Corp., formerly listed its securities on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol “WAYL”, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol “75M”, and the U.S. OTC under the symbol “MRRCF.”

Andrew is licensed to practice law in Ontario, Canada, and Washington, D.C., and represented investors in the development of the pro-investor case law as reflected in Kaynes v. BP, plc; Pannicia v. MDC Partners Inc; Stevens v. Ithaca Energy Inc; Kauf v. Colt Resources, Inc; Auxly Cannabis Group Inc; and Stajic v. Wayland Group Corp. Morganti & Co. was recognized by Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") within the top 50 securities class action firms measured by recoveries in 5 different years. In Canada, Andrew is a member of Milosevic & Associates, a leading trial and appellate law firm focused on litigating civil fraud claims.

To learn more about Morganti & Co., please visit our website at www.morgantico.com.