The Globe and Mail Feature, and the Record
On July 27, 2024 The Globe and Mail published a feature about Robert (Robby) Clark under the headline "How former child TV star Robby Clark's crumbling real estate empire has left hundreds of private lenders on the hook". This page sets its main statements beside the public record.
The short answer
The article itself states that none of the allegations of wrongdoing made in the court filings "have been proven in court". The principal allegations come from the Monitor's Fourth Report, which was unaudited and was never tested by cross-examination. No court has found that Mr. Clark or the companies misappropriated funds.
The Globe and Mail, Jul 27, 2024; Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), 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
What the article reports about how the business began
The article reports that Mr. Clark said he acquired his first property in 2013, a duplex in St. Catharines, Ontario, that he renovated and sold for a profit. The Globe and Mail, Jul 27, 2024
What the article says, and what the record shows
| What the article says | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| The companies spent about $3.6 million on renovations and utilities and at least $24.6 million on interest, according to the Monitor. | The companies' sworn evidence is that about $13.6 million was spent on renovations, including the homes sold in the Core Sale, and a summary of that figure was delivered to the Monitor. The $24.7 million of debt service in the Monitor's analysis is money paid to the lenders.Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Clark affidavit para 72(a)(ii); Exhibit O, item A.1 and Schedule A; Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.2.5 para 1 |
| About $20 million went to related parties, and millions to the directors. | The Monitor's own table puts gross payments to all related parties at $20,287,708, of which $6,861,071 came back, leaving a net figure of $13,426,637. Its net figure for Mr. Clark is $795,518 over five years. The article itself reports the directors' position, filed in court, that about $4.4 million of the roughly $6 million of net disbursements to them were business expenses. The Monitor's report accepts that purchases at Home Depot and from contractors "may be legitimate business expenses".Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.2.5 paras 1 and 2, s.5.2 para 6 and Appendix 2; Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Exhibit O, items A.1, A.3, A.4 and A.5; The Globe and Mail, Jul 27, 2024 |
| The Monitor's report itemized spending on private jet travel, luxury rentals and nightclubs. | The Monitor's own total is "in excess of $1 million", out of $69.7 million of disbursements it reviewed over five years, a review that left out about $81.5 million of mortgage proceeds paid directly to real estate lawyers. 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 article itself reports Mr. Clark's response, filed in court: the discretionary spending at issue was a small fraction of the money loaned, and less than the Monitor spent investigating it. The Monitor and its counsel billed $1.58 million before tax in April and May 2024 alone.Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.2.1 para 3 and note 4, s.2.5 para 1 and s.5.3.5 para 2; Sixth Report of the Monitor (Jul 24, 2024), s.7.0 para 1; The Globe and Mail, Jul 27, 2024 |
| The sale to Core was first negotiated at 295 homes for $118 million and closed at 230 homes for about $75 million. The Monitor put the proceeds at as much as $22 million, and the directors said $11 million of that paid down notes. | On the record the sale closed in May 2022 as 223 homes for $75,850,443, subject to a 5 per cent holdback that the Monitor reports "was never paid". The $22.68 million is the line on the vendors' counsel's trust ledger labelled "Disbursements Before Promissory Notes". The broker told the Monitor's counsel under oath on May 8, 2024 that Core Sale funds paid to her firm were "immediately disbursed" to the lenders. After those repayments the ledger shows $11.6 million for all of the sellers, of which $2.7 million was due to the companies in the proceeding.Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.4.5 paras 1 and 2; Monitor's Document Brief to the Fourth Report, Vol. 5 (Jul 5, 2024), including the interview transcript of Claire Drage (May 8, 2024), Drage transcript qq. 170 to 173; Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Exhibit O, item A.12 |
| As of June 23, 2024 the directors had not provided receipts, according to the Monitor. | The companies' evidence is that personal credit card statements were delivered on March 15, 2024, invoices for $827,233 of renovation company payments on May 28, 2024, and a "significant representative sample of receipts" on June 19, 2024. In its supplement of June 23, 2024 the Monitor acknowledged receiving additional materials.Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Exhibit O, items A.1, A.4 and A.5; Supplement to the Fifth Report (Jun 23, 2024), s.2.0 para 2 |
| Notes were renewed on a house after it had burned. | The companies' response is that these were renewals of existing notes, prepared by the broker's firm and sent for signature, that they produced no new money, and that the broker's firm had been told of the fire.Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Exhibit O, items B.8 and B.9 |
What happened after the article
Regulator
In December 2025 the broker who raised the investor money admitted to fraud in a settlement with the Ontario Securities Commission. The Capital Markets Tribunal found that "Drage committed a large-scale fraud". No borrower company was a respondent, and no borrower is named in the settlement.
Monitor's report
From January 2024 to July 2, 2026, $10.09 million of professional fees was paid from the Monitor's account. On the companies' sworn evidence, $748,503 had been provided for renovations by June 20, 2024. The Monitor estimates about $800,000 for unsecured creditors.
Fifteenth Report of the Monitor (Jul 21, 2026), s.9.0; Motion Record of the Applicants (Jun 20, 2024), including the affidavit of Robert Clark, Clark affidavit para 33
The Core Sale and the $11.08M · What was reported, and what the record shows · Cost of the CCAA · Questions and answers
What cuts the other way
- The article reports the accounts of individual private lenders and their losses. The Globe and Mail, Jul 27, 2024
- The Monitor's Fourth Report says Mr. Clark had an undocumented ownership interest in the companies and described himself as having the "final say" on their decisions. Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.2.3 para 4, s.5.1 para 4
- The Monitor's Fourth Report describes the companies' books and records as incomplete and says many transactions could not be traced. Fourth Report of the Monitor, redacted (Jun 11, 2024), s.2.3
- 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