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A judge has ordered that cryptocurrency funds raised by organizers of Ottawa’s ‘Freedom Convoy’ occupation remain frozen while lawyers continue to file a $306 million class action lawsuit on behalf of the companies and downtown residents.

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Ontario Superior Court Judge Calum MacLeod ordered the funds remain in escrow — held securely by a third party — until March 9 during a hearing Monday morning. The funds were initially frozen by an injunction granted after a hearing on February 17 of which the defendants were not informed. The hearing was held “ex parte” – meaning the defendants were not present – to prevent them from moving the money before the injunction took effect.

The order, called the Mareva injunction, is separate from the federal government’s decision to target the same funds and is part of the class action lawsuit filed by Ottawa lawyer Paul Champ on behalf of downtown resident Zexi Li and several other individuals and businesses. The lawsuit seeks nearly $20 million in fundraising and names the organizers and participants of the convoy, including Tamara Lich, Benjamin Dichter, Chris Barber and Pat King and others, as well as more than 60 unnamed convoy participants.

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The Mareva injunction only targets cryptocurrency raised by the defendants, meaning internet-based currencies such as bitcoin that are not held at financial institutions. It is the first successful injunction of its kind targeting cryptocurrency, Champ said on Monday. The order is global in scope.

Convoy organizers turned to cryptocurrency after courts froze donations that had been collected through online fundraising sites GoFundMe and GiveSendGo.

In his original ruling, MacLeod said he was “convinced that the organizers of the protest and the defendants Mareva deliberately organized the control of the funds in this way to avoid another scenario such as the GoFundMe situation

“Furthermore, the Mareva Defendants have promoted the use of cryptocurrency such as bitcoin in the mistaken belief that it is untraceable and cannot be seized by a court or other legal authority.”

Champ and attorney Monique Jileson appeared Monday at Zoom’s court hearing for the plaintiffs, while Norman Groot represented four of the defendants, including Lich and Dichter. Lawyers from the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General and the Toronto Dominion Bank were also present.

The case will return to court on March 9.