 Here’s what you need to know to get the day started: | | | Ontario home developer accused of $37M 'cheque-kiting' fraud scheme | | |  | StateView Homes's head office is located in Woodbridge, Ont. TD Bank alleges the company carried out a cheque-kiting scheme to the tune of more than $37 million between April 2022 and last month. (Paul Smith/CBC) | | | A major Ontario home developer is facing startling allegations from one of the big five banks that it orchestrated a "highly sophisticated," year-long fraud totalling over $37 million.
TD Bank has filed a lawsuit against StateView Homes, based in Woodbridge, Ont., north of Toronto, and headed by brothers Carlo and Dino Taurasi, alleging the company carried out a "cheque-kiting" scheme from April 2022 to last month.
The lawsuit also names as defendants 25 associated corporations, five directors of those companies and StateView's former chief financial officer Daniel Ciccone.
TD alleges the defendants wrote thousands of bad cheques for large sums of money from both corporate and personal accounts at other banks, according to its statement of claim, filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto.
TD alleges the defendants would cash the cheques into TD accounts and TD would conditionally release the money before the cheque cleared. The bank says the defendants would quickly withdraw the funds and then cancel the cheque to prevent the money from actually being transferred to the TD account.
Over the course of the year, that left TD being owed $37,028,055,73 plus interest, the bank claims.
"Review of the account histories revealed what appears to be a highly sophisticated cheque-kiting fraud spanning about 12 months and dozens of accounts, implicating multiple financial institutions," the bank says in its claim.
To avoid detection, the defendants were routinely doing these "sham transactions" across 22 accounts to create the illusion of fresh funds coming in, TD alleges.
While StateView did not file a statement of defence, it appears to have a proposed settlement agreement with TD to pay back all the money by July, according to a signed copy of the agreement viewed by CBC Toronto but not contained in publicly available court documents.
Another court document seen by CBC Toronto indicates the lawsuit was filed in order to cement the settlement.
Neither TD nor StateView would comment on the settlement. | | | | | High-speed celebration | | |  | (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images) | | | | Britain's Ethan Vernon celebrates after winning a sprint finish to take the first stage of the Tour of Romandie in Vallee de Joux, Switzerland, on Wednesday. | | | | | | | | | In brief | | | Canada will deploy roughly 200 troops to help co-ordinate the evacuation of civilians from war-torn Sudan, Defence Minister Anita Anand confirmed Wednesday. Ahead of question period in the House of Commons, Anand told a hastily assembled group of reporters that two C-130J Hercules transports are in East Africa preparing for flights into Khartoum "as soon as conditions on the ground permit." Global Affairs Canada says that up to 1,800 Canadians are trapped between the warring parties in Sudan and roughly 700 of them have indicated they want out. Defence sources tell CBC News that a company of infantry soldiers from Camp Petawawa, Ont., is expected to be deployed to provide force protection and help co-ordinate the evacuation. An element of the 1st Canadian Division headquarters has also been sent to provide additional oversight and co-ordination. Read more here.
Canada's long-standing efforts to reduce and eliminate tuberculosis suffered a setback as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Canadian health officials. Across the country, several areas have seen recent increases in cases, especially in Inuit and First Nations communities, losing ground after years of progress. Saskatchewan has seen its annual number of TB cases rise from 67 in 2019 to 144 in 2022. Of those cases, 44 per cent were among children in northern First Nations communities. "In our region we have the highest rates in our province," said Tina Campbell, a registered nurse and tuberculosis adviser with the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority in Prince Albert, Sask. "Before COVID, TB programs in Canada and globally were starting to see a decline because of the efforts of health-care practitioners responding to outbreaks and to cases everywhere," said Campbell. But limitations from the pandemic — including lockdowns and staffing issues — hampered those efforts. In northern Saskatchewan, it meant most cases were diagnosed only when people presented to health centres or hospitals, Campbell said. Now that more intensive contact investigations have picked up again, case counts are rising. Read the full story here.
A health centre set up near the Kharkiv region is offering physiotherapy and counselling to Ukrainian soldiers who've spent months fighting on the front lines and are dealing with mental health issues stemming from their time in battle. Each week as many as 100 soldiers arrive at the site, which used to house a Soviet sanatorium that was designed for people experiencing chronic health issues or who were in need of rest and relaxation. When a news crew visited the site, 40 per cent of the soldiers there had arrived from the Bakhmut region. For several months a hellish battle has been unfolding there, leading to enormous losses on both the Russian and Ukrainian sides. "The human psyche is broken," Lt. Col. Oleksandr Vasylkovsky said, noting that the soldiers fighting now are not only dealing with the horror of battle, but also, in many cases, the stress of being separated from family members who have migrated west or outside of Ukraine. Vasylkovsky says 95 per cent of the soldiers are sent back to the front lines after their week off. Read the full story from CBC's Briar Stewart.
During last week’s SpaceX launch, the 120-metre Starship managed to reach an altitude of 39 kilometres without breaking up. And even as it began to spin out of control, it still stayed together under immense pressure. It later exploded after the flight termination system was activated. Altogether, the flight lasted for four minutes. It wasn't the planned trajectory for the rocket — it was supposed to separate, with the booster landing in the Gulf of Mexico and the ship landing in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii after 90 minutes — but SpaceX knew from the outset that this would be a long-shot for the first test of Starship. Ultimately, this launch might not be quite as successful as SpaceX is making it out to be. Not because its rocket exploded, but because of the fallout — both literally and figuratively — on the ground. Read the analysis from CBC’s Nicole Mortillaro.
Now for some good news to start your Thursday: Mitchell "The Moose" Hooper outmuscled the competition to take home the title of the World's Strongest Man. Less than a year after turning pro, the Barrie, Ont., man hopes to inspire others. Watch #TheMoment from CBC's The National here. | | | OPINION | My Liberal grandfather might roll in his grave, but I'll vote for what's best for Fort McMurray | | | Adem Campbell fell in love with Fort McMurray and saw his political loyalties flip. He's voting for what he believes is best for this oil and gas community. His opinion piece is part of a series of personal essays the CBC is running ahead of the Alberta election. Read his piece here. | | | | | FIRST PERSON | Our baby girls were born 5 months apart, after we suffered with infertility for years | | | Sameer Gulamani and his wife struggled for years to have children. He shares insight into their infertility and devastating losses. Read his column here. | | | | | | |  | | | Sudan in crisis: civilians caught in a military power struggle | | | Two warring generals have sent Sudan down the path of violent conflict. But some say the international community ignored warnings the clash was a long time coming.
Listen to today's episode | | | Today in history: April 27 | | | 1791: Samuel Morse, who came up with an electric telegraph and was a co-developer of Morse code, is born in Massachusetts.
1813: A force of 1,800 Americans lands at York (now Toronto) and the outnumbered British garrison is defeated and withdraws. The town is sacked and the Upper Canada Parliament buildings are burned down. In retaliation for this action and the destruction of Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.), the British raided Buffalo and Washington and set fire to the White House.
1967: Expo 67, one of the key celebrations of Canada’s centennial, opens in Montreal.
2006: The Supreme Court of Canada, in a 4-3 decision, upholds key provisions of the national DNA databank that stores genetic profiles of sexual and dangerous offenders. | | | (With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters) | | | | |  | CBC NEWS APP | The most convenient way to get your news
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