Business hired to serve legal documents accused of taking money, not fulfilling services

Customers allege business never fulfilled services A Toronto business has been accused of accepting money from customers to file legal documents and not delivering the service.

A business in Toronto has been accused of accepting money from customers to file legal documents on their behalf and not following through on the service.

Mississauga-resident Shaharazad Husain said she hired a company called Dominion Process Servers last year to serve legal documents involving a family court matter. The business claims on its website to offer multiple services, including investigative consulting, court filing and process serving.

A few months passed and Husain said the documents were never served or filed with the court.

“They never filed it. They never served it. They never really did anything with it,” Husain said.

Bullying Canada, an organization based in Fredericton that helps youth from across the country, also used the same process server to file documents for a small claims court case. The charity paid about $160 for the service, but they say nothing was done.

“I never heard anything from them and at that point I reached out to Toronto police,” said Rob Benn-Frenette, co-executive director of Bullying Canada.

Benn-Frenette said that when he searched for a process server on the Internet, the business was one of the first listed.

Toronto police said they are searching for a man who they have identified as 40-year-old Andrew Hainsworth from Toronto, in connection with a fraud investigation. According to a news release issued by police, Hainsworth is wanted for four counts of alleged fraud under $5,000 and contempt of court.

The business he is associated with is Dominion Process Servers and its website remains active.

CTV News Toronto made multiple attempts to contact the company by phone and e-mail, but received no response. The address listed for the business on the website led to a post office box in a Scarborough building.

The Better Business Bureau says there is a pattern of complaints against Dominion Process Servers, which has been given a “F” rating by the bureau and has received 39 complaints.

Husain said that she has had to start the legal process all over again and would like her documents and her money returned.

“I’ve tried calling them. Every time I call they pick up and they hang up. That’s pretty much been it,” she said.

Police are concerned there may be more victims. Anyone with information about Hainsworth’s whereabouts is asked to contact Toronto police or reach out to Crime Stoppers anonymously.

With files from CTV News Toronto's Pat Foran