CANADA Canada - Barry, 75, & Honey Sherman, 70, found dead, Toronto, 15 Dec 2017 #19

[Window21]

February, 2019, Green Storage paid $1.2 million for a storage facility in Scarborough. According to land title documents, a $25 million loan from Hour Holdings was registered on title.
I am assuming that Hour Holdings was controlled by Barry Sherman. Why would they register a mortgage for $25 million on a property that sold for $1.2 million. No regular financial institution would make this sort of loan. On the surface this is how frauds are perpetrated on lenders and investors. Did Barry really know about this? Did Barry find out later? Who approved this loan on behalf of Hour Holdings? Did JS have any relationship with Hour Holdings?

"By the spring of 2015, according to provincial land title documents, Green Storage had a total of $71 million in loans registered against its properties from a company called Hour Holdings, which used Apotex as its mailing address. The directors of Hour Holdings and the related Hour Investments are Jonathon Sherman and Adam Paulin. Green Storage directors are Sherman and Paulin as well.

Sherman insiders with knowledge of these financial matters say that Hour Holdings was funded by Barry Sherman.

At the same time as the mortgages were registered against Green Storage, it made purchases of existing self storage businesses in Ajax, Newmarket, Aurora and Bolton. According to land title documents, the storage businesses they purchased cost, in total, $22 million. The Star could not determine the extent and cost of the renovations as Green Storage is a private company with no requirement to release information to the public.

The smallest loan to Green Storage from Hour Holdings was in August, 2014, to purchase a small boat storage facility in Apsley, Ontario, north of Peterborough and near a marina and cottage property Jonathon purchased the year before through a holding company he and business partner Paulin own. Land title records show a loan of $500,000 from the Sherman-related company and a purchase of $234,500 for the storage site in Apsley.

The year 2015 was a difficult financial stretch for Barry Sherman. He confided to close friends and executives at the privately held Apotex that “cash was tight.” He had several big generic drug litigation battles going on and while he typically won more than he lost, this period was a rough one financially. Consequently, Barry Sherman was being unusually cautious on investments, including advancing more money to Green Storage."

Barry Sherman’s son raised concerns about Apotex founder’s investment strategy and business competence: Sources

After billionaire Barry Sherman and his son Jonathon were exchanging tense emails about how the family fortune should be spent, sources say Jonathon sent an email to his siblings suggesting their father’s actions were jeopardizing their inheritance.

www.thestar.com

It was also in 2015 when JS wanted to declare his father incompetent

"Barry, who got a copy of the email after it was sent by Jonathon, was taken aback when he read its contents. Barry talked to three people close to him about the email, saying to one:

“Jonathon is talking with his siblings and he wants me declared incompetent and locked up,” according to one person who discussed this with Barry in 2015.

Jonathon’s three sisters did not agree with their brother’s thinking, according to sources. Following this exchange between father and son, Barry reduced his funding to his son’s company for a time but ultimately shrugged it off and provided more money to his son’s company, according to sources and public records."

This is all from the same article Oct 02 2019

 

[MistyWaters]

I would expect the TPS looked at all the current and past trustees. Please note, when I suggested that following the money could only lead to four places, in my mind I was not specifically considering the trustees, as they in the role of trustees would not be the beneficiaries of the will.

I do not know what the alleged animosity between JS and MS was based on, but I definitely believe it existed. I also think MS suspected JS of some nefarious activities.
Much the same as one of JS's sisters suspected JS, as revealed in the KD with JS interview.


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-February, 2019, Green Storage paid $1.2 million for a storage facility in Scarborough. According to land title documents, a $25 million loan from Hour Holdings was registered on title.
I am assuming that Hour Holdings was controlled by Barry Sherman. Why would they register a mortgage for $25 million on a property that sold for $1.2 million. No regular financial institution would make this sort of loan. On the surface this is how frauds are perpetrated on lenders and investors. Did Barry really know about this? Did Barry find out later? Who approved this loan on behalf of Hour Holdings? Did JS have any relationship with Hour Holdings?
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Land titles only register the original purchase price but not the current value. So especially if funds advanced are for improvements and/or expansion, naturally it will increase the current market value but doesn’t change the original purchase price. But the face amount of the mortgage is registered even if advanced in progress draws. What KD printed may appear nefarious but it’s perfectly typical, land title documents are never amended or updated to reflect current appraised value, their primary purpose is only to reflect ownership and financing encumbrances.

 

[FromGermany1]

We don’t know but it would seem to me 8 trustees could be quite cumbersome especially because they don’t all reside in the same location. I’m surprised he didn’t name the services of an estate law firm to act as trustee, a very common arrangement for dealing with complex estates.

It seems, BS only trusted his own family in all, which he did. It seems also, it wasn't always a smart decision.

 

[deugirtni]

....

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-February, 2019, Green Storage paid $1.2 million for a storage facility in Scarborough. According to land title documents, a $25 million loan from Hour Holdings was registered on title.
I am assuming that Hour Holdings was controlled by Barry Sherman. Why would they register a mortgage for $25 million on a property that sold for $1.2 million. No regular financial institution would make this sort of loan. On the surface this is how frauds are perpetrated on lenders and investors. Did Barry really know about this? Did Barry find out later? Who approved this loan on behalf of Hour Holdings? Did JS have any relationship with Hour Holdings?
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Exactly. Except B had nothing to do with HH. It was all in JS and AP names. I'm thinking B did not know about this (at the time the monies were given/loaned), that B became aware of it later, and that was why B was asking for money (was it $50M?) to be returned to him, telling them (JS and AP) to get traditional financing from a bank (perhaps knowing there was no way for this to happen), and kind of bringing things to a head, but under the guise of innocently requiring the money. My opinion only.

 

[casesensitive]

This article is a bit misleading by saying “Barry divided his estate equally among his four children” because at a glance one would assume that was his entire estate. But that’s not true because further in the body of the same article we learn in was but a pittance as only that one Will which required probate was unsealed.

“The newly unsealed estate papers list assets of more than $124 million, though that number would not include the bulk of the Sherman fortune that was tied up in various holding companies.

In fact, at the time of Barry Sherman’s death Forbes had estimated his net worth at $3.2 billion U.S. and the Toronto Star has reported that it could be much higher than that….”

ETA: If any of you have been involved in settling an estate, you might recall the Will is merely the instructions following a whole lot of other financial matters. Prior to knowing how much the disbursements to beneficiaries will be comes both paying or settling personal debts plus collecting personal debts on behalf of the deceased. While we waited in anticipation for the estate to become unsealed we still don’t even know any transaction details pertaining to that portion of the estate which was probated. JMO but if a clue is embedded in the estate, that doesn’t necessarily refer to the Will as only four possible suspects would be glaringly obvious to everyone once the details of the Will was published.

How I read Barry's primary will, it directs that if Honey predeceases him, his entire fortune is to be left to his four children, divided equally. His secondary will would be nullified by Honey's death imo.


"Among the dozens of pages of documents unsealed on Friday is Sherman’s primary will as well as a secondary will that covered another tranche of assets.
In the primary will, Barry directs his trustees to evenly distribute his entire fortune among his four children in the event of Honey Sherman’s death."
Slain billionaire Barry Sherman divided estate equally among four children

 

[newclues]

Notice that in KD's book BS's will and the emails between BS and JS which are not very friendly are in Chapter 13 "Working Theory".

 

[MistyWaters]

How I read Barry's primary will, it directs that if Honey predeceases him, his entire fortune is to be left to his four children, divided equally. His secondary will would be nullified by Honey's death imo.


"Among the dozens of pages of documents unsealed on Friday is Sherman’s primary will as well as a secondary will that covered another tranche of assets.
In the primary will, Barry directs his trustees to evenly distribute his entire fortune among his four children in the event of Honey Sherman’s death."
Slain billionaire Barry Sherman divided estate equally among four children

According to your quote, the secondary will “covered another tranche of assets”, which is indicate of the purpose of the secondary Will. The section including the 30 day clause with reference to income to his wife is routinely included within the same Will so a separate one isn’t required for “if this happens, then that” type of instructions.

The main reason people have two wills, a primary and secondary, is to simplify estate matters and reduce otherwise costly probate fees. Also as the secondary will does not require probate, it’s not a part of a court file and therefore is protected from FOIP.

A bit of information about that here -

“To avoid the additional cost and delays to your estate and to make things easier for your executor, an effective solution is to have two Wills – a Primary Will and a Secondary Will. The Primary Will includes assets that usually require a court-issued Certificate (called probate) before the executor can deal with them such as real property in Ontario (with a few rare exceptions) and publicly-traded shares.

The Secondary Will includes assets that are not expected to require a Certificate before the executor can deal with them. This includes cars, household goods, shares in a private corporation, and bank or investment accounts jointly held by the deceased and a surviving adult child (more below). Since a Certificate is not necessary to administer these assets, no probate fees will be payable on the assets and the executor will not be required to include an Estate Information Return (EIR) with respect to these assets. This means that formal appraisals are not required and the asset values will not be subject to an assessment. The savings in the cost of appraisals alone can be significant.”

Should I Have Two Wills? - Persona Law Group

Persona Law Group : Should I Have Two Wills?. Information from professionals.

personalawgroup.com

 

[WINDSOR]

Land titles only register the original purchase price but not the current value. So especially if funds advanced are for improvements and/or expansion, naturally it will increase the current market value but doesn’t change the original purchase price. But the face amount of the mortgage is registered even if advanced in progress draws. What KD printed may appear nefarious but it’s perfectly typical, land title documents are never amended or updated to reflect current appraised value, their primary purpose is only to reflect ownership and financing encumbrances.

Yes, what you describe is typical funding of properties being redeveloped. It is also a method to scam lenders occasionally.


By the spring of 2015, according to provincial land title documents, Green Storage had a total of $71 million in loans registered against its properties from a company called Hour Holdings, which used Apotex as its mailing address. The directors of Hour Holdings and the related Hour Investments are Jonathon Sherman and Adam Paulin. Green Storage directors are Sherman and Paulin as well.

Sherman insiders with knowledge of these financial matters say that Hour Holdings was funded by Barry Sherman.


With, JS & AP being the Directors of both the mortgagor and the mortgagee, the fact is Barry who funds Hour Holdings is the only one at risk. Even today $71 million is a lot of money.

Things seemed to be okay with all parties involved, until Barry asked for $50 million back. JS sends the 'crazy Barry' email in 2015, and does not seek new financing as requested in 2017, and then the murders occur and JS's money issues are solved.

Maybe the only crazy thing Barry did, was fund Hour Holdings.

 

[newclues]

Notice that in KD's book BS's will and the emails between BS and JS which are not very friendly are in Chapter 13 "Working Theory".

Is there an updated version of KD's book which adds new information to it?

 

[MistyWaters]

Yes, what you describe is typical funding of properties being redeveloped. It is also a method to scam lenders occasionally.


By the spring of 2015, according to provincial land title documents, Green Storage had a total of $71 million in loans registered against its properties from a company called Hour Holdings, which used Apotex as its mailing address. The directors of Hour Holdings and the related Hour Investments are Jonathon Sherman and Adam Paulin. Green Storage directors are Sherman and Paulin as well.

Sherman insiders with knowledge of these financial matters say that Hour Holdings was funded by Barry Sherman.


With, JS & AP being the Directors of both the mortgagor and the mortgagee, the fact is Barry who funds Hour Holdings is the only one at risk. Even today $71 million is a lot of money.

Things seemed to be okay with all parties involved, until Barry asked for $50 million back. JS sends the 'crazy Barry' email in 2015, and does not seek new financing as requested in 2017, and then the murders occur and JS's money issues are solved.

Maybe the only crazy thing Barry did, was fund Hour Holdings.

Without knowing the actual appraised value, we can only speculation. Is $71 million really a lot of money in the corporate financial world experiencing a hot market? An expanded, improved commercial property always increase value well beyond the original purchase price. If it didn’t, nobody would ever undertake it. I don’t believe it true lenders are scammed that way as an current Market Value Appraisal or one that reflects intended improvements is a standard requirement to support any financing.

 

[WINDSOR]

I don’t believe it true lenders are scammed that way as an current Market Value Appraisal or one that reflects intended improvements is a standard requirement to support any financing.

You are right of course.

BTW, a fellow named Trump is under investigation in the USA for providing false documentation to his lenders regarding the values of his real estate holdings to secure funding. This is exactly what we are talking about with Hour Holdings.

Trump Fraud Inquiry’s Focus: Did He Mislead His Own Accountants? (Published 2021)

The investigation, by the Manhattan district attorney, is zeroing in on information the former president and his company shared about the value of his assets.

www.nytimes.com

 

[MistyWaters]

I don’t believe it true lenders are scammed that way as an current Market Value Appraisal or one that reflects intended improvements is a standard requirement to support any financing.

You are right of course.

BTW, a fellow named Trump is under investigation in the USA for providing false documentation to his lenders regarding the values of his real estate holdings to secure funding. This is exactly what we are talking about with Hour Holdings.

Trump Fraud Inquiry’s Focus: Did He Mislead His Own Accountants? (Published 2021)

The investigation, by the Manhattan district attorney, is zeroing in on information the former president and his company shared about the value of his assets.

www.nytimes.com

For sure, documents can be manipulated to show inflated value but it would be quite unusual for values to be intentionally deflated. No doubt Trump might get away with handing over his own documents but the typical arrangement to mitigate that risk would be for the lender to hire an independent appraiser, the client pays for the service.

It would make little sense for even a property purchase price to be deflated if there was any intention of financing or future improvements. IMO this example is not an example of a scam are all, it’s perfectly normal in what one would expect land titles records to reveal. Consider the recent wild ride of the Toronto housing market. It wouldn’t be usual to pull a land titles document and notice the purchase price in say 1994 was $200k. Does that make an asking price of the fully reno’s home of say $3 million a scam? Absolutely not. Land title records do not state improved or current value. The only place you can find something useful is municipal taxation records and even then it’s often not entirely accurate for various reasons.

Its not unusual for reporters to write things just for the sake of creating speculation, it goes with the business IMO. If they didn’t nobody would be interested in reading what they write. JMO

 

[casesensitive]

According to your quote, the secondary will “covered another tranche of assets”, which is indicate of the purpose of the secondary Will. The section including the 30 day clause with reference to income to his wife is routinely included within the same Will so a separate one isn’t required for “if this happens, then that” type of instructions.

The main reason people have two wills, a primary and secondary, is to simplify estate matters and reduce otherwise costly probate fees. Also as the secondary will does not require probate, it’s not a part of a court file and therefore is protected from FOIP.

A bit of information about that here -

“To avoid the additional cost and delays to your estate and to make things easier for your executor, an effective solution is to have two Wills – a Primary Will and a Secondary Will. The Primary Will includes assets that usually require a court-issued Certificate (called probate) before the executor can deal with them such as real property in Ontario (with a few rare exceptions) and publicly-traded shares.

The Secondary Will includes assets that are not expected to require a Certificate before the executor can deal with them. This includes cars, household goods, shares in a private corporation, and bank or investment accounts jointly held by the deceased and a surviving adult child (more below). Since a Certificate is not necessary to administer these assets, no probate fees will be payable on the assets and the executor will not be required to include an Estate Information Return (EIR) with respect to these assets. This means that formal appraisals are not required and the asset values will not be subject to an assessment. The savings in the cost of appraisals alone can be significant.”

https://personalawgroup.com/portfolio/should-i-have-two-wills/[/U

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[casesensitive]

According to your quote, the secondary will “covered another tranche of assets”, which is indicate of the purpose of the secondary Will. The section including the 30 day clause with reference to income to his wife is routinely included within the same Will so a separate one isn’t required for “if this happens, then that” type of instructions.

The main reason people have two wills, a primary and secondary, is to simplify estate matters and reduce otherwise costly probate fees. Also as the secondary will does not require probate, it’s not a part of a court file and therefore is protected from FOIP.

A bit of information about that here -

“To avoid the additional cost and delays to your estate and to make things easier for your executor, an effective solution is to have two Wills – a Primary Will and a Secondary Will. The Primary Will includes assets that usually require a court-issued Certificate (called probate) before the executor can deal with them such as real property in Ontario (with a few rare exceptions) and publicly-traded shares.

The Secondary Will includes assets that are not expected to require a Certificate before the executor can deal with them. This includes cars, household goods, shares in a private corporation, and bank or investment accounts jointly held by the deceased and a surviving adult child (more below). Since a Certificate is not necessary to administer these assets, no probate fees will be payable on the assets and the executor will not be required to include an Estate Information Return (EIR) with respect to these assets. This means that formal appraisals are not required and the asset values will not be subject to an assessment. The savings in the cost of appraisals alone can be significant.”

https://personalawgroup.com/portfolio/should-i-have-t

It would be interesting to know the dollar value related to BS's secondary will. I think everything went to kids with Honey's death.

 

[MistyWaters]

It would be interesting to know the dollar value related to BS's secondary will. I think everything went to kids with Honey's death.

Yes it would be. Would he have wanted each child to hold 25% of the shares in his holding companies therefore no one would hold the majority is an unanswered question. That would make for a rather cumbersome situation, surely to create intensional future strife IMO.

“The newly unsealed estate papers list assets of more than $124 million, though that number would not include the bulk of the Sherman fortune that was tied up in various holding companies.

In fact, at the time of Barry Sherman’s death Forbes had estimated his net worth at $3.2 billion U.S. and the Toronto Star has reported that it could be much higher than that.”

Slain billionaire Barry Sherman divided estate equally among four children

Slain billionaire Barry Sherman left his entire estate to be evenly distributed among his four adult children in the event of his wife’s death, according to court documents.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

 

[newclues]

Yes it would be. Would he have wanted each child to hold 25% of the shares in his holding companies therefore no one would hold the majority is an unanswered question. That would make for a rather cumbersome situation, surely to create intensional future strife IMO.

“The newly unsealed estate papers list assets of more than $124 million, though that number would not include the bulk of the Sherman fortune that was tied up in various holding companies.

In fact, at the time of Barry Sherman’s death Forbes had estimated his net worth at $3.2 billion U.S. and the Toronto Star has reported that it could be much higher than that.”

Slain billionaire Barry Sherman divided estate equally among four children

Slain billionaire Barry Sherman left his entire estate to be evenly distributed among his four adult children in the event of his wife’s death, according to court documents.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

He was looking for one more trustee to make it 5 which is uneven in case of ties, but the people he asked did not want to get involved (as per KD's book).

 

[dotr]

Wondering if those companies BS owed money to, were paid after all?

Also, was there something uncovered in the ''newly unsealed documents'' to support Mary S' belief that the couple were murdered for religious reasons? rbbm.

Jan. 19, 2022

Barry Sherman owed $1 billion and was not going to pay, police documents reveal

Newly unsealed documents reveal what Sherman family, friends and business associates told homicide detectives.

www.thestar.com

''Barry Sherman faced a crushing payout — he owed $1 billion to other companies and had no intention of paying. Two of his most trusted advisers wanted him to show his favourite lieutenant the door. At home, things were better with Honey and the kids than in the past, but detectives’ notebooks quickly filled up with tales of past family turmoil and separate sleeping arrangements.

There’s an old saying in homicide investigations, “there are no secrets in a murder case,” something made abundantly clear in police documents newly unsealed by the court. The files, a collection of interview statements and police theories, also shed new light on Honey’s sister’s belief that the couple was murdered for religious reasons.''

 

[MistyWaters]

He was looking for one more trustee to make it 5 which is uneven in case of ties, but the people he asked did not want to get involved (as per KD's book).

I think you’re confusing trustees who merely administer or handle estate business somewhat of an accounting/legal function with beneficiaries, who are the ones who financially benefit from an estate. However trustees are usually paid a fee for their services, often a percentage of the total estate value. Trustees could be considered caretakers of the estate between the time of death, until all estate matters are settled and disbursement is ready to be made to beneficiaries.

This is why it’s not necessary for the four children, who were beneficiaries of the probated will, to be named as trustees as well.

 

[deugirtni]

Hopefully in 2023 they will get their guy.

JK 3 years after the murders: (starting around 1:50)

 

[FromGermany1]

We never talked about the fact, that maybe HS was gradually becoming unpredictable and therefore wanted to build such a huge, pompous house on the property, she had been given. What if someone not only doubted BS' understanding (due to alleged "dementia") but even more so HS' understanding and this someone couldn't live with it (money + wastage)??