Patrice Runner was found to have stolen more than $175 million from 1.3 million people in the U.S. between 1994 and 2014.

Police say the Port of Montreal's strategic location and large container volume have made it a transport hub for stolen vehicles. Last year, around 1.7 million containers transited through the port, including 70 per cent of Canada's legal vehicle exports, according to port authorities.

The class action, which was authorized in 2018, seeks compensation equivalent to the market value of a taxi owner's permit before Uber's 2013 arrival in Quebec and $1,000 in punitive damages for each member of the group.