Who We Are

The Muslim Credit Union Members group was formed in 2021 by several victims of the illegal actions taken by Central 1 Credit Union against UM Financial in 2011.

UM Financial was a company started by Toronto community members in 2004 and helped finance over 500 homes with funding from Central 1 Credit Union. Central 1 Credit Union put UM Financial into receivership then bankruptcy in 2011 which affected many of us Muslim Credit Union members but in 2019 a Superior Court Judged ruled it should never have happened as UM was in a partnership with Central.

In addition, we have Muslim Credit Union members whose bank accounts were closed by major Canadian banks  for unjustified reasons – something that continues to happen with Muslim Canadian Charities.

Our team wishes to stop these Islamophobia activities by the Canadian financial institutions and require your support to create awareness. We issued a press release in 2021 and shared with many including some MPs. But more needs to be done – and we need your help.

Support our Muslim in Canada Legal Defence Fund at GoFundMe.

Funds to be used to hire a lawyer, Public Relation company and consultants to combat Islamophobia affecting Canadian Muslims.”

Islamic Finance News – Feb 08, 2023

Featured Article about our Class Action

Did you know?

Credit Union relied on Right Wing Websites with Hate Speech to illegally terminate Halal Home financing for hundreds of Muslim Clients in Canada​

UM’s illegal receivership by Central 1 Credit Union occurred during the time of the Federal Conservative government were the government promoting such things as the Niqab ban and barbaric cultural practices hotline.

Many past Conservative MPs have now distanced themselves from these Islamophobic actions. We are hoping that Credit Union’s current management and board will distance them from the discrimination and treatment towards Muslim Credit Union members during that period. We have 6 retired Judges ready to do an independent investigation however Credit Union has not responded nor allowed our case to proceed through courts or Human Rights Commissions. 

We are gathering impact statements of losses or suffering by Muslim Credit Union Members. Please email or make a short video.

Were you one of the victims? Write to us today.

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Yes, I was one of the 500 existing UM Financial Customers

Yes, I was one of the 6000 clients in waiting for a UM Financial mortgage.

Quotes from Justice Ferguson’s Endorsement

[268] “Sacco (Credit Union Employee) was further unaware of the multiple edits to the original commitment letters that had been drafted to ensure that the contracts themselves were Shariah compliant. Sacco was asked to compare the executed commitment letter with the draft version where terminology was changed from traditional mortgage terms such as “borrower” and “lender” to “credit facility utilizer” and “credit facility provider”, terms that are not industry standard, but satisfy the requirements of Shariah law.”

Justice Ferguson Endorsement June 7 2019

[272] “Years later, Kalair continued to use the language of Shariah law,
while Sacco (Credit Union Employee) used the language of traditional finance. This caused friction in the CUCO/Central 1 and UM relationship and is critical to understanding and assessing the honesty of Kalair’s belief in the propriety of his actions.”

Justice Ferguson Endorsement June 7 2019

[301] “UM grew to the point where it had as many as 20 employees and 8 offices. Both UM and CUCO/Central 1 were profitable. Millions of dollars were advanced by CUCO/Central 1 and hundreds of Muslim Canadians had Shariah compliant mortgages. CUCO/Central 1 blamed the credit crisis when they reneged on the $49 million dollar commitment letter that was issued by Lohmueller in 2007 before he left CUCO/Central 1. Without that additional funding, UM was unable to provide finance to any additional homeowners and its profit was limited to existing clientele.”

Justice Ferguson Endorsement June 7 2019

[331] “However, when the credit crisis hit in 2007, CUCO/Central 1 made the unilateral decision not to finance any new mortgages, reneging on its $49 million commitment letter. CUCO/Central 1 also clawed back the profit margin that UM had been earning on existing mortgages to the point where UM was left servicing many mortgages essentially for free. UM made efforts to transfer the mortgage portfolio to alternative financial lenders but this was without success.”

Justice Ferguson Endorsement June 7 2019

[267] “Sacco was never given any indication by anyone at CUCO/Central 1 that UM was anything but a traditional interest-bearing commercial loan company. She was never informed of any aspects of the Shariah compliant relationship and did not undertake any steps to ensure Shariah compliance.”

Justice Ferguson Endorsement June 7 2019

Job Posting: Human Rights/Litigation Lawyer

Our group is looking to hire an Ontario lawyer to lead our group’s legal and human rights actions. The role can be part time or full time. We are flexible to compensation but prefer a flat fee. We do have a professional corporate office that can be used full time which is shared with other lawyers. Litigation files involve libel, human rights, breach of contract, appeal, etc. We are seeking a lawyer eager to defend clients and human rights issues. Please contact info@muslimcreditunionmembers.ca and we can share further details and setup a remote interview.

Recent Documents // That you should review

Matthew Green’s Letter to Peter Routledge about MCUM

Statement of Claim by Plaintiff Yusuf Panchbhaya, 23-Dec-2021
MCC Reinstatement 2022
Letter to NCCM from Muslim Credit Union Members, June 10, 2021 (Updated)
Issued Amended Statement of Claim, November 3, 2022
Formal Request for a Public Inquiry of Islamophobia within Financial Institutions in Ontario
Credit Union Central Ontario Clarification Letter: No Interest
E-Letter from Central 1, June 28, 2013 (New)
Contract for $49 million that Central did not honour
71 Incidents of Discrimination that were submitted to HRTO but were not heard
Central Communication Director Writes an Article, 2019
Reasons for Judgement by Justice Ferguson, OCR, 2019
Toronto Sun: Judge Prutschi, 2019
Client Letter to Central: Sharia Complaint Scheme, 2011
Issued Statement of Claim between UM Financial and Central, 2011
Sworn Affidavit by Mufti Yusuf, 2011
 

Documents from 2005-2010 

GIFR 2010 Report Europe and Canada
Postcard from Ufana 2010
April 3, 2010: National Post Article
No Interest Mastercard (2010)
Financing Presentation (207676)
Living in Canada (452211)
World Islamic Banking Conference (Dubai 2010)
UM Press Releases (2010)
Stability during financial crisis (Investment Executive)
Potential for Islamic Finance in Canada (Investment Executive)
Home Ownership (570337)
Courting Islamic Finance (Investment Executive)
Bloomberg Sukuk (2010)
Article by Right-Wing Website (2 Months Before Terminating with UM)
North America's First Muslim Mastercard
Ninth Forum Program (2010)
Ninth Harvest Short Report (2010)
Muslim-oriented Mastercard (2010)
CMHC Islamic Housing Report (279627)
Agenda Final (12 May 2010)
Abu Dhabi Conference Brochure (2010)
2009: Jovian Considers Shariah-Compliant Investment Product - Investment Executive
2009: UM Group's Halal Financial Services Assessment by Ipsos Reid
2009: UM Profile
2009: Zawya Collaborative Skuk Report
2009: Wall Street Journal UM Financial Report
2009: Saudi Paper Report (No. 91111-2)
2009: Yasaar Media's Islamic Finance in North America 2009
2009: Wall Street Islamic Mastercard
2009: UM Factsheet 2009
2009: UM in the Media, 2009
2009: UM in Canadian Business
2009: Sharia ETF Launch Imminent
2009: Sharia ETF Launch Press Release
2009: UM Financial Joint Venture Press Release
2009: Letters to Visit Toronto Lead by UM
2009: Kalair's Tapping into Community
2009: Jovian to Partner with UM Financial for Sharia-Compliant Launch
2009: Islamic Investment Asia Brochure, 2009
2009: IFSB General Assembly, 2009
2009: World Islamic Banking Conference UAE, 2009
2008: Two Roads Home
2008: Omar Kalair's IFN Profile
2008: IB & F Report, April 2008
2008: FS Report, July 2008
2008: Bank-Sponsored Islamic Mortgages in Canada This Year
2008: Interview with Islamic Finance News
2007: Entrepreneurs Who Dare to Dream - Toronto Star
2007: CIMH Report (No. 050730-33E)
2007: UM Suffers Setback Over Funding Source
2007: Sharia Mortgage without Explicit Interest
2007: Problem Solved: Islamic Mortgages
2007: Muslim Law Dictates Investment Practices
2007: Major Bank to Offer Islamic Mortgages Soon
2007: Koran-Friendly Mortgages in Hamilton
2007: Islamic Finance News (03/30/2007)
2007: Islamic Finance Growing in Canada
2007: Islamic Banking Offers Choice to Muslims in Canada
2007: Islam Inc.
2007: Innovations of Islam
2007: Faith-Based Mortgages for Muslims
2007: Catering to the Muslim Market: Sharia-Compliant Financing
2007: Canada Woos Islamic Finance
2007: Build a Business Challenge Weekly Update
2007: Bridging Cultural Gaps
2007: Banks Give Sharia a Second Look
2007: Banking Act Prevents Islamic Financing from Taking Off
2007: Hamilton Spectator Article (No. A9)
2007: Article (05/23/2007)
2007: Andrews Report, 2007
2007: A Grand Finale
2006: The Stars
2005: Growing Interest in No Interest