The Canadian judge hearing the QuadrigaCX trial has approved more than $1.6 million in fees for parties seeking funds from the doomed crypto exchange.
According to a court order published by the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, the judge approved the fees and disbursements incurred by the court-appointed monitor Ernst & Young (EY) along with the other legal and representative counsel - EY’s legal council Stikeman Elliot; Kirkland & Ellis, EY’s legal council in the US; and representative councils Miller Thompson, and Cox & Palmer.
“There being no expressed opposition to the activities and accounts as presented by the monitor nor to the fees of its legal counsel, I approve the fees and activities of the monitor during the CCAA proceedings and the fees presented towards legal counsel,” Judge Darlene Jamieson said.
EY and its legal counsel charged CAD 1.7 million (around $1.3 million), where the representative councils charged CAD 446,000 (almost $340,000).
“The monitor’s work has been extensive in administering the CCAA proceeding and seeking to recover funds on behalf of Quadriga and its affected users,” the judge added.
“The monitor has faced complicating factors, including a lack of books and records, and the use of third parties to store information. This is the first insolvency case in Canada involving cryptocurrency and has presented a number of unique issues, including requiring specialized resources for the monitor’s investigation.”
Less amount to distribute among creditors?
The approved fees will be distributed from the amounts recovered by EY from QuadrigaCX’s associates, the court document detailed.
According to the last published EY report, the auditor recovered around $25 million from various third-party associates for the defunct crypto Exchange . It further estimated to recover another $9 million by selling parts of the estate of the now-deceased founder of the exchange Gerald Cotten.
In June, Finance Magnates reported that Cotten transferred client funds to his personal account and executed 67,000 crypto trade orders.
