FACTOR Canada says it was the victim of a serious cyber theft.
Court filings by music funding body The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings reveal allegations that $9.8 million was stolen from a Scotiabank account earlier this year.
FACTOR distributes millions in funding to thousands of artists and music organizations in Canada — last year, the organization distributed $50 million. Now, it claims that an amount equivalent to nearly a fifth of that annual distribution was transferred by a hacker to a numbered company.
James Campagna, a shareholder of the company in question, allegedly transferred $9.4 million to an account owned by cryptocurrencies and converted the funds into cryptocurrencies.
A hearing was held today (November 29) in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on the matter.
In a statement on the foundation's website titled “FACTOR's Response to Scotiabank Cybertheft: The Facts,” the company clarifies its side of the story reported in the media and says it aims to “defend Scotiabank's baseless claims against the systems and our staff”.
“It is true that FACTOR was the victim of a significant financial crime that occurred on June 12, 2024, through a one-time fraudulent wire from our Scotiabank account to ScotiaConnect in the amount of $9,772,875.33,” the statement reads.
But the response from FACTOR adds new details to the story, particularly regarding Scotiabank's involvement.
The organization says it reported the crime to law enforcement on June 14, but that Scotiabank “acknowledged it has never reported this financial crime to law enforcement.”
The statement also asserts that the money transfer was 300 times larger than any transfer previously made from that account, “with no alerts to FACTOR of this highly unusual, suspicious and illegal activity.”
If the money isn't recovered quickly, there's concern that artists — who rely on FACTOR funding for recordings, music video production, tours and more — could be affected.
More on this story as it develops – Rosie Long Decter
Drake tells the interviewer to turn off the Weeknd and put on Blink-182
Drake has a lot of enemies right now.
After Kendrick Lamar released his new album, but before news of Drake's two separate lawsuits against his parent company Universal Music Group and Spotify broke, the rapper joined Quebecois streamer xQc for a Kick live stream on Sunday (November 24).
You never know what Drake is going to say on a live mic, so many fans tuned in to see if he'd have words about the Kendrick beef or other hot topics. Between confirming an upcoming Australian tour and updating his collaborative album with PartyNextDoor, he also threw some subtle shade at his ex-boyfriend The Weeknd.
As his song “Starboy” began to play, Drake quickly told xQc to “turn it off.” When the host asked him why he doesn't hear it, he replied “we're real 6ixers, we don't hear that.” He told him to turn on Blink-182. “I wanna hear this real sh-t,” he said to the sounds of “Dammit.”
The Weeknd was born in Scarborough, Ontario, a neighborhood of Toronto, also known as The 6ix. The Weeknd started his career by hooking up with Drake, but the two have had their own simmering beef. The Weeknd was seen in the crowd at Kendrick Lamar's “Pop Out” concert in June, which included performances of all of the rapper's diss tracks and multiple renditions of the scathing “Not Like Us.”
Former Toronto Raptor DeMar DeRozan was also at that concert. This clearly upset Drake, who called him out on a recent game broadcast. Apparently, he still has beef with The Weeknd.
Drake didn't refer to Kendrick or his new album by name, but referred to Kendrick and his “false accusations” indirectly. “You need evidence to get me out, fairy tales don't,” he said. –Richard Trapunsky
