Canadian tech company Shopify paid nearly $149,000 to Kenneth Law, an Ontario man who sold deadly poison and suffocation devices online to vulnerable people around the world, according to court records.
Law pleaded guilty to helping 14 people die by suicide in Ontario between 2021 and 2023. He also admitted responsibility for 79 more deaths in the U.K. Authorities in other countries, including the U.S. and New Zealand, have linked him to additional deaths.
Court documents showed Shopify and PayPal transferred money to Law from sales made through his online stores. Law often advertised the poison as a meat-curing salt, but other products were more openly connected to suicide.
Experts say Canadian laws do not currently make online platforms criminally responsible for harmful products sold by third-party sellers if the companies were unaware of the activity.
Law was arrested in 2023, but prosecutors say deaths connected to his products continued even after his arrest. He is expected to be sentenced after victim impact statements are heard later this year.
