The Simple Investor: two September payments the trustee asked to have returned

On October 16, AlixPartners Restructuring, Inc. emailed the legal counsel of The Simple Investor group's founder and president asking for two payments back. SIREG Holdings Inc. had made both on September 10, 2026: $250,000 to that counsel, and $100,000 to the founder, whom Firm Capital Mortgage Fund Inc.'s sworn evidence describes as "the founder and President of the SIREG group" (Firm Capital affidavit, Oct. 7, 2026, para. 24(d)). "The Trustee has not received a response to this email," AlixPartners told creditors in its report on the preliminary administration of the 16 bankrupt estates, dated November 10 (Trustee's Report to Creditors on Preliminary Administration, Nov. 10, 2026, paras. 1.0.1, 1.0.3, 6.0.3 and table, p. 10).

Both payments appear in a table the report sets out under the heading "Preferences and Transfers at Undervalue." AlixPartners has completed a preliminary review of the companies' accounting records for the year before September 25, 2026, the day each company filed a notice of intention to make a proposal, and the table summarizes "Notable, non-arm's length payments made from SIREG Holdings." The report does not call any of them a preference or a transfer at undervalue. The trustee "intends to discuss these withdrawals with the inspectors appointed in the Estate of SIREG Holdings," it says, and will discuss "any further findings" with the inspectors (Trustee's Report, paras. 1.0.2, 6.0.1–6.0.3, 6.0.6). No other filing in the record addresses the payments. The notices of intention, the October 20 order that ended the proposal period for these 16 companies and left each deemed to have made an assignment in bankruptcy, and a receivership over ten other group companies were reported here between October 9 and November 4.

Eleven payments to the founder, nine to a former vice-president

The table is arranged by payee. To the founder it lists 11 payments between November 6, 2025 and September 10, 2026, totalling $373,000: $10,000 on November 6; $20,000 on each of November 17, 18 and 20 and December 2; $50,000 on January 30, 2026; $10,000 on June 8; $20,000 on June 20; $3,000 on July 17; and $100,000 on each of September 8 and September 10. Payments to a second individual, five of them between November 14, 2025 and May 19, 2026, total $270,000, including $195,000 on November 14 (Trustee's Report, para. 6.0.2 and table, p. 9).

A payee the report identifies as "former Vice President of the Simple Investor Group" received nine payments totalling $925,081.87 between November 11, 2025 and September 11, 2026, among them $200,000 on each of November 20, 2025 and May 14, 2026, $50,000 on September 10, 2026 and $200,081.87 the next day. A company of which, the report says, that former vice-president is sole director and officer received $226,000 on December 29, 2025. The table ends with two more entries dated September 10, 2026: the $250,000 to the founder's legal counsel, and $100,000 to another individual (Trustee's Report, table, pp. 9–10).

For SIREG Management Inc., the trustee "has not identified any notable payments to non-arm's length parties" on its preliminary review. It has not reviewed the intercompany balances between SIREG Management and the rest of the group and, "at this time," does not intend to investigate further "due to the lack of available funds for such an investigation." The Simple Investor Real Estate Group Inc. and the 13 property companies among the 16, it understands, "did not have their own bank accounts and separate financial records were not kept for these entities" (Trustee's Report, paras. 6.0.4–6.0.5).

$655,790, and a possible deemed trust

The companies' statements of affairs record $655,790 of cash at SIREG Management at the date of bankruptcy, $722 of cash and $20,000 of vehicles at SIREG Holdings, and $114 of cash at The Simple Investor Real Estate Group Inc. (Trustee's Report, para. 3.1.1). The trustee understands that "a significant portion" of SIREG Management's cash may be subject to a deemed trust in favour of the Canada Revenue Agency. Taking into account that potential trust, "certain costs incurred in connection with term-and-task arrangements following the bankruptcy date" and "amounts inadvertently paid to SIREG Management by tenants since the start of the bankruptcy proceedings," the report says, "it is anticipated that none of the cash reported above may be available for distribution to remaining creditors" (Trustee's Report, para. 3.1.2(a)).

On the information it has, SIREG Management and SIREG Holdings have unremitted employee source deductions of $356,298.99 and $163,904.92 respectively. The trustee is confirming the amounts with the CRA and reviewing the extent and priority of any statutory deemed-trust claims, and has made no final determination; "however, it is possible that the result of any such statutory deemed trusts will be that there will be no funds available for distribution to unsecured creditors" (Trustee's Report, para. 4.1.1). It is also reviewing whether any property held at bankruptcy is not divisible among creditors under s. 67(1) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, and will report on that to the inspectors (Trustee's Report, paras. 3.2.1–3.2.2).

Unpaid vacation pay comes to $42,807.10, of which $38,372.25 is owed by SIREG Management and $4,434.85 by SIREG Holdings, and the trustee is helping former employees with claims under the Wage Earner Protection Program Act (Trustee's Report, para. 4.3.1). It has taken possession of several vehicles and trailers owned by SIREG Holdings, preliminarily estimated at $20,000, and will consider whether to list them for sale; if it does, it will seek the inspectors' approval (Trustee's Report, para. 3.1.2(c)).

Over $5 million to trade creditors, by SIREG Management's records

Based on SIREG Management's records, the trustee says, "over $5 million is owed to trade creditors," among them utilities, repairs and maintenance, and insurance. It also understands that "there may be substantial amounts owing" for rent not remitted to unit owners under the property management agreements, which it understands was not remitted for August, September and October 2026; for condominium fees not remitted to the condominium corporations; for termination and severance pay owed to former employees; on the CRA's claims against SIREG Management and SIREG Holdings; on secured creditors' claims to the extent sales of the properties do not repay their loans in full; on the guarantees set out below; and on investments individuals made under joint-venture agreements "that may have been entered into" with SIREG Management or SIREG Holdings (Trustee's Report, para. 4.4.2).