Hay River highrise owner owed Canada Revenue Agency $500K

The owner of the Hay River highrise, who reportedly asked the territorial government for money to make the building habitable after a fire last month, owed more than half a million dollars in income taxes.

According to court documents, in 2014 the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) got the legal authority to seize and sell offHarry Satdeo'sassets in order to pay off $502,762.10 worth of income tax debt.

• Hay River highrise owner admits he failed to ensure balconies safe

Instead,Satdeo proposed to pay $15,000 a month toward his tax debt, which was completely paid off three weeks ago, according to court documents.

The documents say Satdeosold two of his properties in Hay River to put toward his tax debt, and also proposed to sell the 17-storeyhighriseapartment building without doing the building code repairs.

Satdeo was fined $10,000 for those violations in 2017.

A fire on the 11th floor of the highrise forced an evacuation on March 15. The building remains vacant and there's no word yet on when, or if, the approximately 150 tenants may be able to return to their apartments.