(Bloomberg) — Canada’s top capital markets regulator has filed applications to push David and Natasha Sharpe, the husband-and-wife team who once ran private lender Bridging Finance Inc., into bankruptcy after they failed to pay millions of dollars in sanctions.

The Ontario Securities Commission said Wednesday it filed to appoint a trustee over the couple’s assets. The move comes after the Capital Markets Tribunal in June ordered the pair to return more than C$20 million ($14.5 million) to investors and pay administrative penalties of more than C$5 million tied to fraud findings.

David Sharpe was Bridging’s chief executive officer and Natasha Sharpe its chief investment officer until the Toronto-based company collapsed in 2021. Last year, the tribunal ruled they had perpetrated or participated in three separate securities frauds involving the diversion of more than C$100 million in investor funds, affecting some 26,000 unitholders.

Lawyers for David and Natasha Sharpe did not immediately reply to emails seeking comment. 

The Sharpes are appealing the tribunal’s decision, with hearings still to come. But the OSC said the bankruptcy filings were needed now to ensure a court-appointed trustee can review certain transactions made by the couple.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. was appointed as receiver for Bridging after the OSC took control of the firm’s affairs in the wake of mounting concerns about governance and misuse of investor money. PwC has since been pursuing recovery actions against former executives and related parties while overseeing a wind down of the Bridging funds.

The scandal surrounding Bridging, which managed more than C$2 billion at its peak, has become one of the largest fraud cases in Canadian fund management history.

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