BG Wealth Group Faces $286,000+ in Tax Arrears & Mounting Investor Complaints
Tax records reveal BG Wealth Group owes substantial property tax arrears on five Owen Sound properties, compounding investor concerns over the private equity firm's financial practices.
BG Wealth Group, a private equity real estate firm led by CEO Craig Dunkerley and President Claudia Harvey, swooped into town with promises of high returns for investors by doubling rents in mixed-use commercial and residential properties. Now, in addition to investor complaints of broken promises, we’ve learned that BG Wealth Group owes the City of Owen Sound over a quarter of a million dollars in unpaid property taxes and associated penalties.
The Owen Sound Current obtained property tax records for five BG Wealth Group properties via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request filed with the City of Owen Sound. The records cover a five-year period leading up to October 8, 2024, when the request was filed, and were provided on December 19, after delays attributed to a postal strike and BG Wealth Group's legislated opportunity to appeal the request.
On November 7, we asked Dunkerley via email to provide the current value of each of the five Owen Sound properties, along with their equity, accounting for any liens, mortgages, loans, tax arrears, or other debts. He did not respond.
Documents obtained from the City of Owen Sound show BG Wealth Group had accrued $286,844.12 in property tax debt and penalties as of October 10, 2024. The group had not made any property tax payments since March 2023, and on some properties as far back as 2021.
The City of Owen Sound appeared to endorse BG Wealth Group early on, when a management-level employee appeared in one of the firm’s promotional videos about its local properties.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article suggested that taxpayers may be left holding a sizeable deficit in property tax revenue. While unpaid taxes may impact a budget in the year they are owed, Ontario municipalities can register a tax arrears certificate on properties where taxes remain unpaid for an extended period, which becomes a lien on the property. The municipality may sell the property to recoup the debt or, if the property owner sells the property after this registration but before the municipality takes further steps, the tax arrears must typically be settled as part of the property transfer process.
$58,536.54 Owing at 1005 2nd Ave E
1005 2nd Ave East: $58,536.54 in taxes and penalties owed to the City of Owen Sound, consisting of $29,812.90 for 2023 and $28,723.64 for 2024.
The registered owner of 1005 2nd Ave East was listed as 11968017 Canada Inc. According to the corporate registry, that company was registered on March 19, 2020, and Craig Dunkerley is the only director of the corporation.
11968017 Canada Inc.’s physical address is listed as 2869 Bloor St W, Unit 587, in Toronto — a UPS Store.
The last property tax payment on the account for 1005 2nd Ave E is a cash receipt for $89,119 on March 29, 2023.
$40,847.38 Owing at 950 2nd Ave E
950 2nd Ave East: $40,847.38 in taxes and penalties owed to the City of Owen Sound, including $21,532.13 for 2023 and $19,293.03 for 2024.
10603503 Canada Inc. acquired this property on March 15, 2019. Again, Craig Dunkerley is the sole director of the corporation, and the company’s address is the same UPS Store as above.
Records show the last payment on the 950 2nd Ave E account as a cash receipt for $1,516.84 on February 10, 2023.
$16,483.37 Owing at 948 2nd Ave E
948 2nd Ave E: $16,483.38 in taxes and penalties owed to the City of Owen Sound, including $5,765.76 for 2023 and $10,717.61 for 2024.
The owner of this property is another numbered corporation, this time 11393235 Canada Inc. The company was registered on May 6, 2019, to sole director Craig Dunkerley of the same UPS Store listed above.
Records show the last property tax payment on the 948 2nd Ave E account as a cash receipt for $7,964.29 paid on May 26, 2021.
$46,793.77 Owing at 942 2nd Ave E
942-944 2nd Ave E: $46,793.77 in taxes and penalties owed to the City of Owen Sound, including $37,082.62 for 2024 and $9,711.15 for 2023.
The property is registered to 11393251 CANADA INC, another numbered company owned by Craig Dunkerley, this time at 2869 Bloor St W, Suite 587, in Toronto.
Records show the last property tax payment on the 942 2nd Ave E account as a $30,191.65 cash receipt on January 3, 2023.
$124,183.06 Owing at 261 9th St E
261-281 9th Ave E: $124,183.06 in taxes and penalties owed to the City of Owen Sound, including $32,722.78 for 2024, $34,877.14 for 2023, $32,456.75 for 2022, and $24,126.39 for 2021.
The property is registered to 10603511 CANADA INC, another numbered company with a single corporate director: Craig Dunkerley, at 2869 Bloor St W, Suite 587, in Toronto.
Records show the last property tax payment on the 261 9th St E account as a $17,468.87 cash receipt on March 3, 2021.
Dunkerley Wants to be Heard, But Unwilling to Answer Specific Questions or be Interviewed
We have repeatedly requested to interview Dunkerley. On November 7, 2024, we received a lengthy email in which he complained we had not given him an opportunity to respond to claims made by investors in our October article.
The Owen Sound Current had, at that time, repeatedly attempted to reach Dunkerley and Harvey by phone, by email to several @bgwealthgroup.com addresses listed on their website and social media, and by reaching out to each of them on LinkedIn.
The roughly two-page email on November 7 came after we contacted one of his staff members, who said Dunkerley would send a statement. We were not allowed to submit questions to him, and he declined to be interviewed.
“We have a real estate Fund (sic) as well as a Private Lending Program and they have been meticulously created legally as corporations,” Dunkerley wrote in his letter to The Owen Sound Current, adding, “The goal of our programs is to buy real estate, refurbish it, increase its value and improve tenant spaces. We tenant the properties and adhere to all Landlord and Tenant regulations in their respective communities.”
Dunkerley claimed he had “paused investor distributions” in November 2023 and cited the economic downturn in 2021 and “significant turn over in tenants, abandoned units, unpaid rents that we are unable to collect for months” among the reasons for that decision.
Of the investors who have complained that they have been unable to recoup their investments, Dunkerley told us, “The group you refer to in your message to us is a small number of people that some have commenced illegal activity which has negatively impacted the company from performing our jobs to ensure we positively manage our properties and investments. To give any further credence to them is also erroneous.”
He also took issue with our attempts to contact Harvey, despite her position as the President of the company.
“Being the CEO of the company, it is my role to ensure all investors receive their investment returns. Any employee is not legally liable including Claudia Harvey, our President,” Dunkerley wrote. “It is erroneous to sensationalize her involvement and respectfully (sic) request you refrain from doing so.”
In closing, Dunkerley promised, “We stay the course and manage our business and properties, and our investors will be paid back their investment. We value the City of Owen Sound and its citizens as well as our tenants and investment partners.”
He added that he hopes our coverage “will be a fair representation of our good intentions.”
The Owen Sound Current responded to Dunkerley’s email within two hours with specific questions about his claim that Harvey is simply an employee with no legal responsibilities to investors, what specific illegal activity he suggested investors have partaken in that has prevented him from ending their investments and returning their funds as requested, and what he has to say to people who are reaching out to the media claiming he is ignoring their attempts at contact and will not return their money.
We also invited him to share financial documentation we could use to verify the quarterly portfolio disclosures, management reports, and any material change reports BG Wealth has provided investors over the last 24 months.
Dunkerley did not respond.
Dunkerley and Harvey Partnered Previously in Now-Bankrupt Dig It Apparel
In addition to their joint involvement in BG Wealth Group, Dunkerley was the corporate director of Dig It Apparel, a clothing brand that filed for bankruptcy on April 29, 2024. Claudia Harvey gained attention as Dig It’s CEO when she struck a deal with Kevin O’Leary on Dragon’s Den in 2010.
At the time of the bankruptcy, Dig It Apparel wholly owned 8996598 Canada Inc. o/a Suncayr, an insolvent sunscreen-detecting company also owned by Craig Dunkerley.
According to the creditor’s package by BDO Canada, Dig It Apparel owed over $6 million to unsecured creditors at the time of the bankruptcy filing. A substantial portion of that claim, over $4.5 million, lists the creditor as “Blackthorn Investment” at 2869 Bloor St West, Suite 587, Toronto—the same address Dunkerley uses for 11393251 CANADA INC and 10603511 CANADA INC. Dunkerley identified himself as the CEO of the Toronto-based Blackthorn Group of Companies in a 2018 interview with The Globe & Mail.
Harvey is also included in the Dig It Apparel bankruptcy claim with unsecured claims of $24,292.77 and $313,597.84.
Despite Dig It Apparel and BG Wealth Group’s ongoing financial issues, Dunkerley and Harvey have built their online brand around a lifestyle of luxury, wealth creation, and financial independence. In this post from 2022, Dunkerley invites social media users to join his “Money Mastery Challenge.”
In November 2024, Harvey promoted her inclusion in a book called America’s Leading Ladies and boasted of her proximity to Oprah and Melinda Gates. Harvey last posted on Instagram six days ago. She has not responded to The Owen Sound Current’s attempts to contact her.
On January 4, 2025, we asked Dunkerley via email how he plans to repay BG Wealth Group’s property tax arrears, among other questions about a specific property.
Dunkerley responded moments before our publication deadline on January 7, indicating that he would “send a response within the next two days.” The Owen Sound Current asked where we could reach him by phone, as we have requested to interview him several times and submitted specific questions via email that he has not answered.
We notified him we intended to continue with our plan to publish today, then held this article until the end of the business day. Dunkerley did not reply.
As for the investor complaints, Peel Regional Police confirmed to us on September 27 that they had received a complaint of investment fraud involving BG Wealth Group and were assessing it “for the best course of investigative action.”
The Owen Sound Current also asked the Ontario Securities Commission whether they are investigating claims made by BG Wealth Group investors. A representative told us, “As a general policy, the OSC does not confirm or deny the existence, status or nature of any potential investigation.” They added that they’re always interested in hearing from people who want to talk to them, and shared the link to the OSC Contact Centre web page.
Our offer to interview Dunkerley and have him address these questions remains open. If we receive responses to the specific questions or can conduct an interview, updates will be included in the next installment as this story develops.
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BG Wealth Group? Does the BG stand for Big Grift?? Great investigative work, Miranda.
Thanks for this very informative article on an important topic. Impressive!