There has been a major development in the FACTOR Canada cybertheft case.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has issued an arrest warrant for Quebec man James Campagna, found in contempt of court after nearly $10 million in music grant funds went missing.

In July 2024, it was reported that $9.8 million was allegedly stolen from the Canadian music non-profit and granting body’s Scotiabank account. In court last Friday (Jan. 9), where Billboard Canada was present, Justice W.D. Black of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that he will endorse a warrant for business owner James Campagna, sentencing him to 30 days in jail.

“I find that Mr. Campagna is a liar, a fraud, and a scofflaw, deliberately and knowingly breaching this court’s orders,” wrote Justice Black in a bombshell Commercial List endorsement dated Jan. 9.

According to court documents, Campagna is the sole shareholder of Vipera, a Quebec-based tech company. The document claims that money was transferred in the form of a counterfeit invoice from FACTOR to Vipera’s Scotiabank account by Campagna, who moved the money into an account owned by cryptocurrency platform VirgoCX Direct.

The funds were transferred out mere days after the Department of Canadian Heritage deposited $14.3-million to distribute to the music industry.

After the case became public, FACTOR released a public statement, claiming that Campagna gained access to the bank account from an IP address that had never previously accessed their banking info. Additionally, the organization noted that it was never flagged about the “highly unusual, suspicious, and illegal activity” by Scotiabank.

The case is one of — if not the biggest — theft cases in the history of the Canadian music industry. Nearly two years into the legal battle, FACTOR’s lawyers have consistently requested that Campagna be held in contempt of court — now it’s finally happening, a rarity in the Commercial List court.

In Friday’s filing, Justice Black writes that “Mr. Campagna has knowingly and intentionally disregarded and/or failed to comply with various orders of this court” including producing documents, correspondence, corporate financial statements and banking information.” Justice Black writes that Campagna has made various excuses to avoid participating, in what he calls “a frustrating ‘the dog ate my homework’ approach to his obligations.”

“Mr. Campagna has lied about various aspects of his conduct and activities in relation to the fraudulent transfer,” he writes. “It is highly likely that he was a knowing and active participant in the fraud, and that he has benefitted and continues to benefit from the proceeds of that fraud.”

According to “FACTOR’s investigations and surveillance,” Campagna has now “fled jurisdiction,” Justice Black reports, and moved to Qatar. That’s according to evidence including social media posts indicating he plans to “stay and work in Qatar for a year” and documents that show his four children have been enrolled in school in the country.

In his endorsement, Justice Black recognizes that Campagna “has taken active steps with a view to putting himself beyond the reach of the court.” Still, “there should therefore be plenty of time, once my order comes to his attention, within which Mr. Campagna can take steps to purge his contempt.”

In a statement to Billboard Canada, FACTOR Canada CEO Meg Symsyk says the ruling is an important development as the organization pursues the repayment of the missing money.

“FACTOR welcomed Justice Black’s ruling this past Friday, which reaffirms what we maintained since the outset: the perpetrators of this theft have not been held to account,’ she says. “The finding of contempt against Mr. James Campagna clearly illustrates the challenges that FACTOR has encountered in working to recover the stolen funds. FACTOR will continue to pursue all available legal avenues to recover these public monies and clear the organization and its staff.”

Scotiabank tells Billboard Canada that they cannot comment, given that the matter is before the courts.

As the legal proceedings continue, the question of penalty and remedy remains open-ended. FACTOR has made its stance clear, as they hope to recoup the almost $10 million in lost funds. In addition to seeking contempt from Campagna, the non-profit is putting legal pressure on Scotiabank, which they said in 2024 has “participated reluctantly, and in the most limited fashion” during the initial investigations.

FACTOR has said that Scotiabank “has acknowledged it has never reported this financial crime to law enforcement” and that despite an issued money transfer of $9,772,875.33, over 300 times larger than any previously made from the account, there were “no alerts to FACTOR of this highly unusual, suspicious, and illegal activity.”

FACTOR is one of the country’s most significant investors in the development, financing and support of Canadian music. Many in the music industry have been watching this case carefully.

Cryptocurrency markets are dangerously unregulated and susceptible to fraud. 

That was the point of my report for Innov’Nation from January 6, 2026. Anyone can create a cryptocurrency token, invest heavily at the point of conception, promote it, then pull the rug- selling for a huge profit, whilst destroying the currency’s value and screwing over the investors you brought along for the ride.

The reason I did this was to bring attention to what’s known as “memecoins”. These are tokens, tied to existing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, but given the facade of viral emblems. 

The most famous are the Elon Musk-approved Dogecoin, and cartoon-turned-right-wing dog whistle Pepe the Frog. I talked specifically about how people are manufacturing offensive memes about figures like George Floyd & Charlie Kirk and using it to promote their respective memecoins. But one little throwaway line that I said has come back to haunt me.

“Creating a cryptocurrency can take 5 minutes[…] you just need a snazzy name, like Lynncoin, a picture, a supply limit and bingo, you have created a new crypto token.”

Alongside this was an AI-generated image of Innov’Nation host Lynn Plagmeijer mocked up on a coin-like sphere. Lynn was sitting next to me when I generated this, and it was laughed off as nothing more than a tongue-in-cheek visual aid to show the absurdity of memecoins. And we went about our day without giving it a second thought.

Two days later, I woke up to a barrage of messages on X, formerly Twitter. Lynncoin had seemingly been wished into existence. Almost as if an angel knew that my massive ego loves being proven correctly, someone created a virtual commodity out of thin air that has the potential to defraud millions.

And this was what I was fearful of; accidentally creating a vehicle that has allowed anonymous individuals to carry out mass fraud with no retribution. Why would someone make this coin? Who is stupid enough to invest in it? And, most importantly, is it a scam?

I tracked the person who created the token on X – a French-Thai man who goes by the online pseudonym Trax. He did acknowledge that ‘most memecoins are scams’, but was adamant that his was not. He said that he created it simply because I went on television and said that the lack of regulation of memecoins means that they are likely scams. He thought it would be funny if he made a meta token, mocking my report. And, credit where it’s due, that is very funny.

To prove that it wasn’t a scam and that ‘memecoins can be used as a force for good’, Trax created a link to purchase Lynncoin on a platform called Bags, which gives creators a percentage of the transaction fees of the coin. He offered to set it up in my name – a kind, albeit unethical offer. I politely declined and said that he should give the money to charity, specifically The Auschwitz Museum (this raised $400 for Auschwitz, who have been contacted to collect their “donation”). 

But Trax did say that he bought at a low price, and the creation of Lynncoin was so he could piggyback on a trend and make money from it. I do not know how many Lynncoins he bought, how much profit he has made, or if he is using this as a pump and dump scheme. It could be a little bit of fun, or it could be mass fraud. And the fact I don’t know highlights the problematic lack of transparency with memecoins, and the crypto market as a whole. 

But regardless, I didn’t think Lynncoin would take off. It’s a stupid concept, and only stupid people would invest in it, right? Right?!

After a slow start, it was picked up by major X accounts who specialize in the trade of memecoins. On January 11th, the price of Lynncoin spiked to 0.0003132 USD – which may not sound like a lot, but it was an approximate 8,500% increase in a 24-hour period. So if you invested $1,000 in Lynncoin (which inexplicably, many people did), you could in theory sell for $85,000. For reference, the largest single day increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 15.34% in 1933. Even Bitcoin’s record daily jump was 47% in April 2013. Yet, here you have a coin that some anonymous French-Thai guy created, bearing the face of Lynn Plagmeijer, making the most absurd jump I have ever seen.

But pride comes before the fall, and the fall was drastic. By 18:00, dozens of traders were shedding thousands of dollars selling Lynncoins, and all the gains had been wiped out. And it is impossible to find out who were the ones buying, who were the ones selling, other than an anonymous jumble of letters comprising a screen name on the tracking website Dexscreener.

In total, more than half a million dollars has been traded with Lynncoin, some making a profit, others losing a fortune. At the time of writing, the value is now a fraction of what it was, down 80-90% from its peak. In theory, it could get back to previous levels, but if it does, history shows it will not sustain. It will be a flash in the pan, whilst people pump their money into it for a few hours, create value, and sell it at a huge profit margin.

Pump-and-dump schemes are highly illegal, and can lead to fines and prison sentences. But the lack of transparency makes it hard to prosecute. Is Trax committing fraud? I want to believe not, he seems like a nice guy. But I cannot say for certain. And that is the crux of why I made my original report, and the major issue in this burgeoning, and highly lucrative financial industry.

Pump and dumps, or rug pulls, are not new. Global icons from Javier Milei to Hailey “Hawk Tuah” Welch have been accused of scamming their supporters through crypto. Even during the brief existence of Lynncoin, former New York Mayor Eric Adams created a token, the profits of which he said would be to ‘fight antisemitism’. 

Yet just 30 minutes after he launched it, millions of dollars of liquidity was withdrawn, destroying the value of the coin before it had a chance to ‘fight antisemitism’.

Do I think you should invest in Lynncoin? That’s like asking if you should go into a casino and put all your money on the roulette table. Yes, you can win big. 

But more likely than not, you will lose even more. And, most importantly, it is a gamble, so if you do choose to invest, only put in as much as you are willing to lose. I’m sure it’s hard enough telling your loved ones that you gambled away all your money, but it would be even more embarrassing telling them you lost it on Lynncoins.