The CTV "Misusing Tens of Millions" Article, and the Record
On June 19, 2024, eight days after the Monitor filed its Fourth Report, CTV News Northern Ontario published an article about the SID companies and Robert (Robby) Clark headlined Insolvent northern Ont. real estate group accused of misusing tens of millions of dollars. The article reports the companies' statement disputing the report. This page sets its main statements, in summary, beside the public record.
The report the article describes is the Monitor's report, not a finding of the court. It was unaudited, it was not tested in court, and no approval of it was sought. No court has found that Mr. Clark or the companies misappropriated funds.
What the article reports, and what the record shows
| What the article reports | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| The headline says the group is accused of misusing tens of millions of dollars. | The report is the Monitor's Fourth Report of June 11, 2024. It is a document the Monitor filed with the court, not a decision of the court. The report says it "appears" funds were "diverted, misused or misappropriated", and states that the Monitor "has not audited, or otherwise attempted to verify" the financial information "in a manner that complies with Canadian Auditing Standards". The same report states that the funds used to purchase and renovate the properties "do not appear to have been used for an improper purpose", and that the Monitor "accepts that some payments to the Principals may have been justified as reimbursement" for business purchases made on personal credit cards. The sentence in the report that uses the words "tens of millions" is about record keeping: "tens of millions of dollars of receipts and disbursements were not recorded in the general ledgers". The report's table puts gross payments to all related parties at $20,287,708. Of that, $14,107,854 went to related companies and $6,861,071 came back, leaving a net figure of $13,426,637. Its figure for spending that appears personal is "in excess of $1 million".Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.2.1 para 3, s.2.3 para 1, s.2.4 para 6, s.2.5 paras 1 and 2, s.3.0 para 3 and s.7.0 paras 2 and 3 |
| The Monitor's report says the principals diverted, misused or misappropriated funds. | The report says it "appears" so, and states that the Monitor "has not audited, or otherwise attempted to verify" the financial information "in a manner that complies with Canadian Auditing Standards". On June 24, 2024 the court held that the companies were entitled to cross-examine on the evidence put against them. The matter was resolved on consent the next day. The report was not tested in court, and no approval of it was sought.Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.2.4 para 6, s.3.0 para 3; Endorsement of Justice Osborne (Jun 24, 2024), para 13; Endorsement of Justice Osborne (Jun 25, 2024), paras 2 and 8 |
| More than $1 million went on private jets, luxury hotels and similar items. | The Monitor's figure is "in excess of $1 million", out of $69.7 million of disbursements it reviewed over five years. That review did not include about $81.5 million of mortgage proceeds paid directly to real estate lawyers. Counting both, the figure is about two thirds of 1 per cent of the money that moved through the companies. The "private jets" item is a payment of $42,174.66 that the report describes as "a private jet rental". The report dates the jet rental and the luxury rentals to three weeks between December 29, 2021 and January 18, 2022, about four months before the companies closed a $75.85 million sale. The percentage is this site's arithmetic.Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.2.1 para 3 and note 4, s.2.5 para 1, s.5.3.2 para 9 and s.5.3.5 paras 2 and 4; Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Exhibit O, items A.3 and A.12 |
| The 11 companies owe more than $144 million. | The companies applied for protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act on January 23, 2024. A CCAA proceeding is a court-supervised restructuring, not a bankruptcy. $144 million was the debt figure at filing: about $90.1 million of mortgages and $54.2 million of promissory notes. The Monitor's pre-filing report put the estimated appraised value of the homes at about $173 million. The Monitor later described the $54.2 million as "the amount initially provided by Ms. Drage", the broker, and reported that a reconciliation "has not been completed". The companies' own reconciliation puts the promissory note debt at about $22.06 million.Endorsement of Justice Kimmel, Jan 23, 2024; Third Report of the Monitor (Apr 2024), s.2.0; Pre-Filing Report of the Proposed Monitor (Jan 2024), s.2.0 paras 3 to 4; Eleventh Report of the Monitor (Feb 20, 2025), s.2 para 3; Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Clark affidavit para 21(h) |
| The companies blamed higher interest rates when they filed. | The companies' sworn evidence at filing states that the group "began exploring refinancing and sale opportunities in early 2022", and that its financing efforts were "hampered by the Bank of Canada's repeated interest rate increases commencing in March 2022 and falling home prices". The Bank of Canada's annual report for 2022 describes "the most rapid tightening cycle in Canada's history".Application Record, Vol. 1, including the first affidavit of Robert Clark (Jan 23, 2024), first affidavit paras 10 and 102; Bank of Canada, Annual Report 2022 |
| A spokesperson for the companies said most of the payments were reimbursements for standard business expenses. | The companies' filed response puts net payments to the four principals at about $6 million, and states that about $4.4 million of that reimbursed business expenses incurred on the companies' behalf. The Monitor's report accepts that some payments to the principals "may have been justified as reimbursement" for business purchases made on personal credit cards.Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Exhibit O, items A.1 and A.5; Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.7.0 para 3 |
| The restructuring would include selling properties over time. | 333 properties, about 82% of the portfolio, went to secured lenders by credit bid, in exchange for their mortgage claims plus a cash allocation. The remaining properties were listed for sale. The sale and the buyers.Thirteenth Report of the Monitor (Jul 21, 2025), s.3.1 paras 6 to 7 |
The two weeks after the report, and since
The Monitor files its Fourth Report. The report states that the Monitor "has not audited, or otherwise attempted to verify" the financial information "in a manner that complies with Canadian Auditing Standards". Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.3.0 para 3
The secured lenders' motion to expand the Monitor's powers is scheduled, with the Fourth Report as "the principal evidentiary basis". Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Exhibit O, cover letter
CBC News, SooToday and CTV News report the report's allegations. CBC News, Jun 14, 2024; SooToday, Jun 19, 2024; CTV News, Jun 19, 2024
The companies send the Monitor a letter identifying more than 30 issues with the report and ask for a revised report. Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Clark affidavit para 70, Exhibit O
The companies file sworn evidence in response. Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Clark affidavit para 72
The Monitor files a supplement. It records that a draft of the Fourth Report "was not provided to any party (including the Applicants) prior to it being filed with the Court", and says the companies' materials "do not change the principal conclusions" of the report. No revised report is issued. Supplement to the Fifth Report (Jun 23, 2024), s.2.0 paras 1 and 2
The court holds that the companies "are entitled to test the evidence put against them" by cross-examination. Endorsement of Justice Osborne (Jun 24, 2024), para 13
The motions are resolved on consent without a contested hearing. No approval of the Fourth Report is sought. The report is not tested in court. Endorsement of Justice Osborne (Jun 25, 2024), paras 2 and 8
The broker who raised the investor money admits to fraud before the Ontario Securities Commission. OSC Settlement Agreement, Claire Drage et al. (Dec 16, 2025), para 52
The coverage, article by article · No court finding: the direct answer · Why control passed to the Monitor · Where the money went · The response, item by item · Questions and answers
- The Monitor's Fourth Report alleges that significant funds were regularly diverted to the principals and their corporations. Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.7.0 para 2
- The same report states that each of the companies "failed to maintain a general ledger after 2022". Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.2.3 para 1
- The article reports the companies' response through a spokesperson. CTV News, Jun 19, 2024
- The Monitor's supplement of June 23, 2024 says the additional materials it received "do not change the principal conclusions" of the report. Supplement to the Fifth Report (Jun 23, 2024), s.2.0 para 2
- On December 6, 2024 the court found the companies' $140M valuation of the portfolio "not credible". Endorsement of Justice Osborne (Dec 6, 2024), paras 10 to 11