Seizure and sale closes Prince George’s Salted Cracker – Prince George Citizen

Acting on a court-ordered writ of seizure and sale, a bailiff has locked the doors on a chain of Prince George lunch spots.

Notices on the doors of the four Salted Crackers in the city were posted Tuesday saying all supplies, stock, furnishings and appliances have been seized.

The outcome stems from a court action that began slightly more than a year ago when Gordon Food Service Canada Ltd. filed a notice of claim in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver stating the supplier is owed $69,431.43 plus interest spread over 71 unpaid invoices dating back as far as December 2019.

According to the claim a numbered company, of which Michael Kenneth Pockett is listed as the sole proprietor, entered into an agreement in which GFS was to be paid no later than 14 days after the date of each invoice for supplies sold to Salted Cracker. Overdue accounts are subject to 18 per cent annual interest.

By Feb. 23, 2023, GFS had secured an order from the court stating Pockett owed $104,912,98 made up of the $69,431.43 plus $35,491.55 in interest. On April 27, a requisition was issued for the write of seizure and sale.

In a letter to Salted Cracker sent to staff on Tuesday afternoon that has since been posted on social media, Pockett confirmed that a bailiff has seized the restaurants’ assets to cover a debt from an “old food supplier.”

“The company had been dealing with this since Covid closures but GFS got impatient with our payments,” Pockett said. “The bailiffs have taken everything…all equipment, all furniture, the white van and two of our personal vehicles and our house.”

All the locks on the properties have been changed, Pockett said, and added he has been be allowed to enter by appointment to retrieve tax records and personal items.

“So needless to say, I have lost everything I own and the company is out of business. 

“I cannot apologize enought for the stress this has caused…I (sic) so, so, so very sorry….”

The list of invoices itemized in the notice of claim indicates that by January 2022, Salted Cracker had turned for the better as the three invoices listed for that month were marked as paid in full.