After nearly two years of legal proceedings, the music funding body has reached a settlement in the case after nearly $10 million went missing from its account. “We deeply thank Canadian artists and our entire music sector for their unwavering support as we navigated this complicated process,” says Meg Symsyk, president and CEO of FACTOR.
FACTOR Canada has settled with Scotiabank in the $9.8 million cybertheft case that has rocked the Canadian music industry.
According to court documents obtained by The Globe and Mail, the Canadian non-profit music funding organization and major Canadian bank reached a settlement of an undisclosed amount on March 5, 2026 after two years of legal proceedings.
The decision comes months after 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 from FACTOR's account. Read Billboard Canada's firsthand report on that bombshell proceeding here.
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In November 2024, FACTOR and Scotiabank confirmed the major withdrawal from the former’s bank account in June of that year. FACTOR said it would “vigorously” pursue the recovery of the funds, while noting that Scotiabank had "reluctantly" participated in the investigation process. It is one of the largest thefts in Canadian music history.
FACTOR's $9.8 million was transferred mere days after the Department of Canadian Heritage deposited $14.3 million to distribute across the music industry, including for live performances, music videos and entrepreneurship.
In a statement sent to Billboard Canada, Meg Symsyk, president and CEO of FACTOR, thanks the music industry for their support during the proceedings.
“While we couldn’t control what happened to us, we proved in a court of law that FACTOR and its staff were not involved in this incident,” explains Symsyk. “We deeply thank Canadian artists and our entire music sector for their unwavering support as we navigated this complicated process.”
She points to the RCMP’s Anti-Fraud Centre, which has reported a year-on-year increase in losses to fraud — $624 million in 2024, $704 million in 2025 and already $188 million between January and March in 2026.
"We applaud Finance Minister Champagne for the Bank Act changes and creation of the Financial Crime Agency to tackle this serious issue that is clearly affecting Canadians," Symsyk says. "We are pleased to have this behind us so we can focus on our important work for the Canadian music sector at this pivotal time."
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But the case isn’t closed just yet. In Justice Black’s acknowledgment of the settlement, he said that Scotiabank will continue to pursue legal action against other relevant parties, including Campagna — who now reportedly resides in Qatar.
In January, Justice Black claimed that Campagna "has knowingly and intentionally disregarded and/or failed to comply with various orders of this court.”
No criminal proceedings have yet been broad against Campagna. 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.
Per The Globe, VirgoCX Direct reportedly reached an agreement to end its legal dispute with Scotiabank on May 5.
Despite the dispute, FACTOR has remained one of the biggest funders of Canadian music in the country. Emerging from the two-year legal dispute, FACTOR announced $2 million in funding for live music back in April, while Symsyk shares that FACTOR will always put homegrown music acts and initiatives at the forefront of its mission.
“We recognize that local investment builds resilient communities, preserves identity and establishes sovereignty,” she shared in a recent
