Family charged with staging hate crime has faced lawsuits, financial challenges
WINNIPEG — Family members who have denied police accusations that they staged an anti-Semitic attack at their Winnipeg cafe have faced financial troubles, including a six-figure lawsuit from a lender.
Court records show Oxana and Alexander Berent were ordered last August to pay $112,358 to the Business Development Bank of Canada for a design company the couple owned north of Winnipeg.
Court documents show the bank had loaned the couple $150,000 in 2014 and had only received $40,000 in repayments. The case ended in a default judgment in favour of the bank.
More recently, the couple’s son, Maxim Berent, was sued by the Royal Bank for $43,000 that the bank said he owed on a credit card. That statement of claim was filed this week. The allegation has not been tested in court and Berent has not responded to it.