(L–R) JCCF Lawyer Keith Wilson and Freedom Convoy organizers Chris Barber and Tamara Lich hold a press conference in Ottawa on Feb. 3, 2022. (Gerry Smith/NTD)
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Square, the payment processing company also known as Block, Inc., has deactivated the account of former Freedom Convoy organizer Chris Barber for “security reasons,” reports news outlet True North.
“We recently reviewed your account, and found activity that our platform is unable to support. Because of this, we are sorry to inform you that your Square account is now deactivated,” the company told Barber in a notice, according to True North journalist Andrew Lawton.
“Unfortunately, we cannot disclose the reason for your account deactivation due to security reasons,” it added.
The cancellation of Barber’s payment processing platform reportedly came in late December 2022, which caused his hoodie and T-shirt brand Big Red Merch to put orders on hold.
“The store will be down as we deal with some unpredicted issues,” reads a notice on its website. “The store will be operational again by the end of next week.”
Square also told Barber that it did not take the decision to close his account lightly.
“We understand that this decision may cause changes in how you run your business and do not make it lightly,” the notice said, adding, “Although we can no longer process your payments, we encourage you to reach out to alternative payment processors.”
Lawton reported that Square gave no explanation for the account deactivation other than alleging that Barber’s account violated the platform’s service terms.
“When sellers sign up with Square they agree to our Terms of Service. If a seller violates those Terms, we notify them that we will have to close their account,” said a spokesperson.
Lawsuits
Barber and other prominent Convoy organizers like Tamara Lich and Benjamin Dichter are among defendants named in a lawsuit filed by Ottawa lawyer Paul Champ on behalf of public servant Zexi Li and other Ottawa residents and business owners, who are seeking $306 million in damages.
Two of the defendants, Chris Garrah and Dichter, recently had their request rejected to have $200,000 in frozen funds released by the court. Garrah and Dichter were requesting access to the funds—part of the roughly $5 million raised for truckers now held in escrow—to pay for legal fees related to the lawsuit.
Justice Calum MacLeod, who issued the decision, said neither of the men disclosed enough financial information to prove that they couldn’t afford the legal fees with their own personal funds.
“Access to the frozen funds should not be granted lightly because it would effectively subject the frozen funds to the ‘death of a thousand cuts’ and would risk undoing the effect of the agreement reached between the parties,” MacLeod said.
Garrah told the court he earned $15,000 of income in 2021 from selling windows and doors as a general contractor.
Dichter claimed about $10,000 of income in 2021 plus $7,000 in corporate net income, and said a foot injury prevented him from working for six months earlier in the year.
Isaac Teo and Marnie Cathcart contributed to this report.