Thind’s Biggest Lender KingSett Alleges Developer ‘Misappropriated’ Millions, Court Filings Show!

High flying Indo-Canadian developer-builder Thind Properties led by Daljit Thind has been grounded to a halt with bankruptcy proceedings at three of their biggest projects and to make matters worse – the lender is accusing Thind Properties of ‘misappropriating’ tens of millions of dollars including tax revenue that should have gone to the CRA.’ The lender, KingSett, has filed court documents demanding Thind Properties, a major Metro Vancouver real estate developer, pay more than $300 million owed in relation to major condo developments in Surrey, Richmond, and Burnaby, totalling almost 1,800 homes plus office and retail space. Thind Properties‘ has not publicly commented on the bankruptcy proceedings at it’s three projects but sources tell DESIBUZZCanada that it is asking the court to give it time to restructure it’s enormous debt but real estate experts say the situation looks grim for Thind Properties owner Daljit Thind. “I think there are many factors in his financial troubles but he may have also chewed on more than his company can handle,” said one Indo-Canadian developer who did not want his name used. “It’s hard to catch up when you are paying $100,000 daily in interest chages and with overhead and other financial obligations for the company, it looks grim for Thind Properties. I don’t think there are any White or Brown Knights left to rescue Daljit Thind at this point.”

By PD Raj – Senior Reporter DESIBUZZCanada

With News Files

VANCOUVER – High flying Indo-Canadian developer-builder Thind Properties led by Daljit Thind has been grounded to a halt with bankruptcy proceedings at three of their biggest projects and to make matters worse – the lender is accusing Thind Properties of ‘misappropriating’ tens of millions of dollars including tax revenue that should have gone to the CRA.’

The lender, KingSett, has filed court documents demanding Thind Properties, a major Metro Vancouver real estate developer, pay more than $300 million owed in relation to major condo developments in Surrey, Richmond, and Burnaby, totalling almost 1,800 homes plus office and retail space.

KingSett has successfully obtained a court order placing Thind Properties’ Surrey condo project under receivership, after it filed a first petition last month.

In the second petition, filed earlier this month, KingSett asked the court to also appoint a receiver for Thind’s condo projects in Richmond and Burnaby to oversee the sale of their assets and distribution of proceeds. The lender claims a receivership is “necessary to ensure that the borrowers do not abscond with funds due and owing to KingSett,” alleging the borrowers had “already misappropriated funds in various contexts,” reported Postmedia.

The allegations in KingSett’s second petition have not been tested in court.

Thind filed a response to the first petition opposing the Surrey receivership, but soon after, the court appointed KSV Restructuring as receiver. Thind has not responded in court to the second petition.

KingSett says it is owed $146 million in connection with the Burnaby property and another $74.9 million on the Richmond property. These amounts are in addition to the $85 million owed on Thind’s Surrey property that was placed under receivership this month. Across the three properties, KingSett claims it is owed more than $305 million by companies connected to Thind, racking up $99,431 in interest daily, reported Postmedia.

KingSett’s petition alleges the Thind-related company behind the Burnaby development “wrongfully retained” $17.7 million, including $10.2 million in funds that should have been paid toward its debt to KingSett but was kept by the developer without KingSett’s knowledge. Thind received another $7.5 million in GST funds from the sale of condos on the Burnaby property and instead of remitting the money to the Canada Revenue Agency, the petition alleges, the developer “absconded with these funds and used the funds for internal obligations, which it would not disclose,” reported Postmedia. 

Thind Properties‘ has not publicly commented on the bankruptcy proceedings at it’s three projects but sources tell DESIBUZZCanada that it is asking the court to give it time to restructure it’s enormous debt but real estate experts say the situation looks grim for Thind Properties owner Daljit Thind.

“I think there are many factors in his financial troubles but he may have also chewed on more than his company can handle,” said one Indo-Canadian developer who did not want his name used. “It’s hard to catch up when you are paying $100,000 daily in interest chages and with overhead and other financial obligations for the company, it looks grim for Thind Properties. I don’t think there are any White or Brown Knights left to rescue Daljit Thind at this point.”

Thind’s Surrey condo project placed under receivership earlier this month was approved by city council in 2020. Roughly 90 per cent of the condos have been pre-sold to date, court filings show, but construction has not yet begun.

After being appointed receiver for the Surrey property, KSV reviewed the financial records of the Thind-related company developing the project and compiled a list of more than 100 potential creditors. In addition to the $85.7 million of secured debt owed to KingSett on the property, the list, which was posted this week on KSV’s website, says the developer owed another $11.7 million to unsecured creditors, including other companies related to Thind, engineering and architecture companies, real estate brokerages and marketing firms, as well as $808,170 to B.C. Housing and $444,665 to the City of Surrey, reported Postmedia.

The first project is Highline, located at 6511 Sussex Avenue in Burnaby, directly adjacent to Metrotown Station and across the street from the Metropolis at Metrotown shopping centre. At the site, Thind Properties has developed a 48-storey mixed-use tower that completed construction in late-2023 and has received occupancy. The tower also includes 10 floors of office space that Thind has been in the process of converting into hotel use, reported Storeys.com website.

KingSett and Thind — borrowing as 6511 Sussex Heights Developments Ltd. — entered into a first-ranking inventory financing loan agreement on March 5, 2024 for the principal amount of $176,500,000, which was to be payable in two tranches and carry an interest rate of the RBC Prime Rate + 3.50%, with a floor rate of 10.70%.

As part of the loan agreement, Thind Properties was required to make monthly interest payments to KingSett, but failed to do so on both September 1 and October 1 of this year. A few weeks later, on October 21, KingSett then issued Thind a Notice of Default as well as a Notice of Intention to Enforce Security, reported Storeys.com website.

With News Files from Postmedia and Storeys.com