National Post (National Edition)
Businessman wins ‘David vs. Goliath’ fight against bank
TD refused to say why it closed his accounts
When he received the notice from Toronto-dominion Bank six years ago, Hossein Pourshafiey says it hit him like a sledgehammer.
TD Bank, he was informed, was closing his business and personal accounts within 30 days. It was also closing his line of credit for his mortgage in two months. He needed to repay the bank $767,000.
All of this was made clear in writing. The reason behind the bank’s decision wasn’t.
Pourshafiey, 66, scrambled to find a solution. He sought out answers with his local branch manager, but to no avail. He wrote to the bank’s head office, but again never received a response.
As a last resort, he took legal action. He knew it was a “David versus Goliath” situation, but also believed he was owed an explanation — the bank had upended his life.
After a six-year legal battle, a Quebec Superior Court sided with Pourshafiey in July, ordering TD Bank to pay him $49,000 in damages and $27,000 to cover his legal fees.
“TD Bank acted in its own interest, without considering the effect on Mr. Pourshafiey’s business and his life,” Judge Gregory Moore wrote in his July 20 decision. “Had Mr. Pourshafiey not sued, he would never have learned why TD Bank turned his life upside down.”
Pourshafiey’s company, Moneywise Financial, had operated as a currency exchange business in Montreal since 1998. With Pourshafiey’s ties to Montreal’s Iranian community, he says, it was often used by families in Iran to wire money to their children studying in the city. It was also popular among Quebecers spending the winter in Florida and wanting to send money back to relatives.
In court, the bank eventually explained it ordered the account closures because it wasn’t comfortable with transactions conducted with Iran in February 2012, given Canada’s economic sanctions in place at the time. But it only revealed its reasons on the second-to-last day of trial, six years after Pourshafiey first asked.
Pourshafiey maintains he was aware of the sanctions in place and never violated any of them.
He claims several Iranians in Montreal had similar difficulties with their banks in 2012 over unfounded concerns that they were violating the sanctions. He sought punitive damages for alleged discrimination based on his Iranian heritage, but the court ruled there was no evidence to support the claim.
Moore did, however, take exception to the bank’s behaviour leading to and during the court hearings for the case, suggesting it left Pourshafiey, the local branch and its own litigation counsel in the dark about the reason for closing the accounts.
Though TD Bank might have had a justification for ending its relationship with Pourshafiey, Moore ruled, the short delays given weren’t reasonable and closing everything at once left him powerless.
The bank’s litigation strategy, he added, “effectively dares the plaintiffs to sue a sophisticated and rich bank or to forego an explanation of why their life and business were turned upside down.”
In an email response on Wednesday, a TD Bank spokesperson said the bank is disappointed with the outcome and is reviewing its legal options.
Pourshafiey has had similar issues with banks before, with both Laurentian Bank and the Royal Bank of Canada closing his accounts over concerns. But unlike TD Bank, Moore noted, both gave him longer notice periods and explanations, allowing him to reorganize his business.
Pourshafiey said he’s satisfied with the ruling but sees it only as a long-overdue first step. His business has been in limbo for the last six years and its future remains uncertain.
After moving to Montreal from Iran in 1972, he raised five children in the city. He nearly lost the family’s home through the ordeal. His wife temporarily moved out as he struggled to cope with the stress.
And as the judge noted, since he wasn’t given any reasons, he couldn’t explain to his family or the Iranian community what was going on, “leaving them to draw their own humiliating conclusions.”
He was still upset as he discussed the case this week.
“For six years, I’ve been saying just give me one reason, one thing I did wrong for you to close my accounts,” Pourshafiey said.
“The suffering that I went through and everything that happened,” he added, “there is no amount of money that could justify it.”