Settlement reached with one defendant in P.E.I. e-gaming lawsuit

The company behind a $50-million lawsuit against the P.E.I. government has dropped its claim against one of the defendants named in the suit.

According to documents filed in P.E.I. Supreme Court, Capital Markets Technologies and Paul Jenkins have agreed to a settlement, the terms of which are confidential.

As a result the judge presiding over the case, Justice Gordon Campbell, has ordered CMT's claim against Jenkins and a numbered company be dismissed, along with Jenkins' counterclaim against CMT.

In March 2017 CMT filed asuit, accusing government of "breach of its good faith performance of contract and failure to act honestly in the performance of its contractual obligations."

That's in connectionto dealings between the company and the provincial government to set up a financial service centre in the province to process online transactions. The allegations have not been proven in court.

13 defendants remain

Efforts to set up a financial transaction platform in the province came in the wake of the province's failed attempt to establish itself as a regulator for online gambling, according to Auditor General Jane MacAdam's report on the subject.

According to its statement of claim, CMT named Jenkins as a defendant in the case for "breach of fiduciary duty." The suit claimedJenkins wasfor a time the sole director of the subsidiary of CMT that signed a memorandum of understanding with government.

In the statement of defence, lawyers for Jenkins stated that he initially didn't know he had been named sole director of the company, and when he found out he resigned.

Jenkins filed a counterclaim against CMT for money he said he was owed by the company.

According to the court order dismissing the claim and counterclaim between CMT and Jenkins, CMT must pay $150,000 in legal costs.

That will come from a security deposit the company made of $348,716, with the balance being returned to CMT.

Besides the P.E.I. government, CMT is left with 13 individuals named as defendants in its suit including former P.E.I. premier Robert Ghiz, and former finance minister Wes Sheridan.

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