The non-Indigenous businessman who allegedly used millions of dollars in misappropriated funds to create the Gen7 Fuel brand is currently being investigated by the Ontario Provincial Police over missing records.
That’s just one of the revelations found in the latest report by the court-appointed monitor tasked with overseeing the insolvency of Original Traders Energy (OTE), which imports and blends fuel products that are sold to gas stations in Ontario. The Indigenous fuel supplier, which is headquartered in Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, was granted protection under the Companies’ Creditor Arrangement Act from a lengthy list of creditors in January of last year.
In that report, KPMG confirmed that it had been contacted by the OPP with respect to its investigation of Glenn Page — who helped brothers Miles and Scott Hill establish OTE as president of the company before allegedly conspiring with others to open a chain of discount Indigenous-run gas stations in Ontario using misappropriated funds from OTE’s bank accounts — and a matter concerning “missing computer data.”
The investigation into Page is being led by the OPP’s Economic Crimes and Corruption Unit, SooToday has learned. Police did not respond to a request for details of the investigation made by SooToday earlier this week.
But a lawsuit filed by OTE in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in 2022 sheds light on its business relationship with Page — and how that relationship eventually broke down.
The Hill brothers allege that Page and his wife, Mandy Cox of Waterdown, Ont., stole funds from OTE to pay for their lavish lifestyle of expensive trips and other high-priced items, including a $4.2-million yacht that was once named ‘Cuz We Can’ and trips on chartered private jets.
Along with Page and Cox, the lawsuit also targets Brian Page, Glenn’s brother, and another senior OTE employee, Kellie Hodgins.
OTE has alleged the misappropriation of funds, discovered after Page’s exit, has left the bulk fuel supplier on the hook for millions in unpaid taxes and hefty bills to suppliers and regulators.
None of the allegations have been tested in court and statements of defence have yet to be filed by any of the named individuals. In an affidavit filed as part of the insolvency proceedings, Page denies all the allegations against him, calling them "unfair and untrue."
OTE was granted creditor protection months after that lawsuit was filed, leading to a number of documents being filed in court over the course of last year as the bulk fuel supplier goes through insolvency.
According to the latest report by KPMG, the net value of the claims against OTE and its current and former directors and officers totals hundreds of millions of dollars, with the bulk of the claims attributed to tax authorities and litigation.
But perhaps the most stunning allegation from the court-appointed monitor is its belief that approximately $16.3 million was misappropriated from OTE by Page and Cox to fund their personal interests — a claim that’s been repeatedly challenged by lawyers for the couple in several court filings related to OTE’s insolvency. KPMG has also identified more than $87 million in spending it has classified as “suspected fraudulent, improper, or suspicious payments or transfers.”
According to documents submitted by Page’s lawyers, more than $13 million in assets have been frozen to date, including:
- $7.3 million in fractional interests for Airsprint, a private aviation company;
- A 70-foot Italian yacht worth $4.2 million; and
- $1.8 million from the sale of Page and Cox’s home in Waterdown, Ont.
The monitor also claims that OTE owes more than $300 million in unpaid fuel taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency and Ontario’s Ministry of Finance. Page’s lawyers have since argued the claims made by the monitor regarding unpaid fuel taxes are “unproven” and “have not been adjudicated.”
However, according to court documents filed by KPMG, it seems as though the monitor tasked with overseeing OTE’s insolvency possesses a growing sense of distrust when it comes to Page and Cox, both of whom have business interests and a house in St. Lucia, an island country in the Caribbean. The couple officially became citizens of St. Lucia in July 2022.
Late last year, the monitor discovered that Page submitted forged financial documents bearing the letterhead of OTE’s auditor. It also learned that Page and Cox sold their $4-million Waterdown, Ont, home and were set to close on the sale at the end of November, prompting concerns by KPMG that the married couple would “endeavour to move, dissipate, or attempt to secret those (and other) funds” at that time.
KPMG also expressed concern after Page and Cox attempted to sell their yacht while a court hearing related to the freezing of the sale of the yacht was being heard. At the time of the hearing, legal counsel for OTE informed the court it had been advised the yacht had recently left port in Florida and “was believed to be bound for the Bahamas.”
And now, Page is under investigation by police for missing computer data — an allegation that could potentially be related to claims made by the monitor that “significant books and records” belonging to OTE are missing.
Launched in 2019, Gen7 Fuel now operates five gas stations in First Nation communities across Ontario — including Nipissing First Nation outside of North Bay and Batchewana First Nation outside of Sault Ste. Marie — in partnership with local franchisees. Four other gas stations have either folded or broken off its relationship with the Gen7 Fuel brand since SooToday first reported on the multi-million dollar lawsuit against the founders and associates of the discount gas station chain.
While Indigenous participants own a majority interest in each Gen7 gas station, the lawsuit launched by the Hill brothers claim that Page and Cox “have complete financial and management control over all key aspects of the business,” which has been denied by the couple during insolvency proceedings.
