Florentine Financial: the Dunbar Street trust claim settles under seal

When its receivership began in November 2023, Florentine Financial Corporation had an interest in two properties: Unit 3 at 80 Devon Road in Brampton, an industrial condominium unit, and 5649 Dunbar Street in Vancouver, which the receiver describes as "a narrow, vacant plot of land situated between a residential rental property and a redevelopment property." Florentine's co-debtor, A&H Asset Auctions Inc., ran public auctions of, among other things, precious gemstones and jewellery held at the Devon unit, per the First Report of MNP Ltd., Mar. 24, 2025, paras. 2–3, 24 (Motion Record, Tab 2). In litigation going back to 2009, 3283313 Canada Inc., which carries on business as Federal Auction Service, and Amir Durrani allege that FAS and/or Mr. Durrani "personally funded the acquisition and maintenance of both the Dunbar and Devon Properties, notwithstanding that title to both was registered in the name of Florentine." They claim remedial constructive trusts over both properties, 50% beneficial ownership of Florentine itself, relief from oppression, rectification of its corporate records and an accounting. Florentine pleads, as the receiver understands it, that the funds FAS advanced were interest-free loans that FAS was to pay off through rent for use of the properties, and that the rent was not paid, per the Second Report of MNP Ltd., Mar. 6, 2026, paras. 8, 53–56; the court dates the Ontario action to 2009 in the Order (Re: Settlement and Distribution Approval), Sept. 25, 2026, para. 3.

On September 25, 2026, Justice J. Dietrich of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) approved a settlement between MNP Ltd., the receiver, and the two claimants. On payment to Mr. Durrani of an amount set out in correspondence at Confidential Appendix "1" to MNP's Fourth Report, two sets of claims advanced in the claimants' motion of March 31, 2026 are extinguished and do not attach to what remains of the Dunbar sale proceeds or to any other property of the debtors: those asserting a proprietary interest in the debtors' property, and those asserting an entitlement to the tax arrears that 3283313 Canada Inc. says it paid to redeem the Dunbar Property from a municipal tax sale. Any other claims the claimants have against the debtors, including those advanced in the 2009 action and in a 2010 action by 3283313 Canada Inc. against Florentine, survive only as unsecured claims ranking behind the secured creditors. The motion was dismissed without costs, and the appendix is sealed until the receiver certifies that the payment has been made or the court orders otherwise, per the Order (Re: Settlement and Distribution Approval), Sept. 25, 2026, paras. 2–3, 5, 10.

Two companion orders were signed the same day. One directs MNP, once Mr. Durrani and the court-approved fees of the receiver and its counsel have been paid, to distribute to 1000877740 Ontario Inc., the applicant, the funds it holds in excess of a $200,000 holdback, up to the amount Florentine owes it, per the Order (Re: 740 Ontario Distribution), Sept. 25, 2026, para. 2. The other approves the receiver's activities since March 6, 2026 and fees and disbursements, with HST, totalling $110,722.49 for MNP, for December 16, 2025 to July 30, 2026, and $173,172.76 for its counsel, Reconstruct LLP, for January 5 to August 31, 2026, per the Order (Re: Ancillary Relief), Sept. 25, 2026, paras. 2–4.

From TD to 740 Ontario

The receivership began with The Toronto-Dominion Bank. Under a letter agreement of December 17, 2020, TD had given Florentine a $900,000 reducing term facility, secured by a first-priority mortgage on the Devon unit and general security over both companies and guaranteed by A&H; on September 11, 2023, $831,864.22 plus $13,182.07 of interest was owing on it, beside a $60,000 CEBA loan, per the Affidavit of Amanda Bezner, TD senior account manager, Oct. 17, 2023, paras. 10, 13–15, 18 (Application Record, Tab 2). A&H, she deposed, "ceased operating in the normal course at the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic" and had not operated since. TD's list of defaults ran from a condominium lien registered against the unit and $29,283.03 in property tax arrears to missed term-loan payments, overdue corporate filings and two financial covenants, and it made demand on June 16, 2023, per the Affidavit of Amanda Bezner, Oct. 17, 2023, paras. 5, 8, 26.

The companies' answers, as Ms. Bezner recounts them, touched both properties. On August 1, 2023 they told Grant Thornton, TD's agent, that Florentine was waiting on refinancing offers and would sell a Rolls-Royce to pay the mortgage arrears and property taxes. Their counsel's letter of August 22 repeated the plan, raised roof repairs at the Devon unit that the condominium corporation "has refused to undertake," and, in the affiant's words, referenced "a property in BC and the impediment in selling it." They had not signed TD's forbearance agreement, per the Affidavit of Amanda Bezner, Oct. 17, 2023, paras. 27, 30, 33–34, 48. On November 23, 2023, Justice Daley appointed Grant Thornton Limited receiver of both companies, per the Second MNP Report, Mar. 6, 2026, para. 3.

On May 28, 2024, 1000877740 Ontario Inc. took over TD's loan and security by paying the bank $1,052,272.34, a sum covering both the debtors' debt and Grant Thornton's own borrowings from TD under the receiver's borrowings charge, according to the affidavit of William Hristovski, 740 Ontario's sole officer and director. He was also sole officer and director of 715486 Ontario Limited, which owns Unit 1 of the same building, next to Florentine's unit, and a director of Peel Condominium Corporation No. 346. He swore that Florentine's unauthorized roof alterations, among them moving rooftop air conditioners from their curbs and installing skylights above Unit 3, had caused significant water to leak into Unit 3 and into other units, Unit 1 included, and gave that as his reason: "To protect the Building, the interests of PCC346 and the interests of 486, I caused the TD Loan and the TD Security to be assigned to 740," per the Affidavit of William Hristovski, Sept. 18, 2024, paras. 1–2, 6–7, 11 (Second MNP Report, App. "J"). On the motion his affidavit supported, MNP was substituted for Grant Thornton on September 26, 2024. The receiver was told on December 30, 2025 that Mr. Hristovski had died; he had been president of the condominium corporation and, in the receiver's words, "the directing mind and de facto principal of 740 Ontario." His successor as the condominium corporation's president now instructs 740 Ontario, per the Second MNP Report, Mar. 6, 2026, paras. 6, 33–35.

A narrow lot on Dunbar Street

MNP listed the Vancouver lot with Avison Young on November 18, 2024 for $2,900,000, with offers due January 31, 2025. The adjacent redevelopment owner, approached in October 2024 to buy the lot or act as a stalking horse, showed "limited engagement"; by the offer date three offers had come in: one from that owner, which the receiver calls "unrealistically low," one from a third party, and one from the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority, TransLink. The receiver recommended TransLink's, citing "a very limited number of potential purchasers, since the property is a narrow vacant lot between two other redevelopment properties," a two-year decline in the Vancouver-area market, and 740 Ontario's support, per the First Report of MNP Ltd., Mar. 24, 2025, paras. 28–31, 39 (Motion Record, Tab 2). Justice Steele approved the sale on March 31, 2025, sealing two confidential appendices, among them the unredacted agreement, until closing, per the Approval and Vesting Order, Mar. 31, 2025, paras. 2–3, 11.