Montréal lawyer found guilty of tax evasion

MONTRÉAL, Jan. 8, 2021 /CNW/ - The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that Emile-Haim Benamor, a Montréal lawyer, pleaded guilty on January 6, 2021, in the Court of Quebec, to charges of willfully evading tax payments. He was fined a total of $136,180. In addition to the court imposed fine, Mr. Benamor will also have to pay the full amount of tax owing, plus related interest assessed by the CRA.

The CRA investigation showed that, for the 2012 and 2013 tax years, Mr. Benamor failed to report income totaling $469,591 from 21 drafts cashed in a personal bank account and not declared as income. These amounts came from a fraudulent scheme.

All case-specific information above was obtained from the court records.

Tax evasion is a crime. The CRA publicizes convictions for tax evasion to maintain confidence in the integrity of Canada's self-assessment tax system and to deter others from failing to comply with our tax laws. The CRA may also publicize different stages of an investigation to warn Canadians of potentially fraudulent tax schemes.

From April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, there were 32 convictions, with 13 taxpayers sent to jail for a total of 18.5 years. These individuals were sentenced for wilfully evading payment of $7,427,090 in tax.

The CRA remains dedicated to maintaining the integrity of Canada's tax system, as well as the social and economic well-being of Canadians during these unprecedented times. The CRA continues to aggressively pursue tax evasion and false claims with all tools available to them. The CRA is continuously working towards making sure that individuals and businesses claim income earned, eligible losses, and benefits to which they are entitled, so that important benefit programs can be administered to those who need them. As a result of COVID-19, we are seeing the increased importance of these benefits, and are working to make sure that they continue to be available to Canadians. Any individual or business who underreports income, or claims losses or benefits to which they are not entitled, including ineligible claims for COVID-19 benefits, may have to repay the benefit amounts and may be subject to other possible action.

The CRA has set up a free subscription service to help Canadians stay current on the CRA's enforcement efforts.

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SOURCE Canada Revenue Agency

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View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2021/08/c4192.html