Mississauga tax preparer sentenced for fraud

Brampton, Ontario, July 22, 2013...The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced today that, on June 14, 2013, Lawrence Aimurie of Brampton, Ontario pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000. On July 18, 2013, Aimurie was sentenced, in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Brampton, to a 12 month conditional sentence and a fine of $25,000. The first six months of the conditional sentence is to be served as house arrest, and the remainder is to be served with a curfew. Aimurie has one year to pay the entire fine.

The CRA investigation revealed that Aimurie, who operated a tax preparation business in Mississauga under the names Lawsco Accounting & Income Tax Services, Cashpal, and Cashpal Financial Management Services Incorporated, prepared and e-filed 186 fraudulent T1 Income Tax returns on behalf of 124 clients from 2006 to 2009. The returns included fraudulent charitable donation claims totaling in excess of $641,000.

Most of Aimurie’s clients admitted to the CRA that they had not made the donations claimed on their returns. Those clients who denied that the donations were false were unable to substantiate the claims with cancelled cheques or legitimate receipts. Some of Aimurie’s clients admitted that Aimurie told them they could participate in a charity program which entitled them to a charitable donation receipt for a particular sum of money after paying only 10 per cent of the receipt’s face value. The receipts were issued in the name of Faith Assemblies International, whose charitable status was revoked by the CRA in 2009. From 2006 to 2009, Faith Assemblies International did not receive any portion of the 10 per cent of the face value of the charitable donations claimed by Aimurie’s clients.

As a result of the false charitable donation claims, Aimurie enabled his clients to evade over $180,000 in federal income taxes.

The preceding information was obtained from the court records.

Taxpayers who claim false expenses, credits or rebates from the government are subject to serious consequences. They are liable not only for corrections to their tax returns and payment of the full amount of tax owing, but also to penalties and interest. In addition, if convicted of tax evasion, the court may fine them up to 200% of the tax evaded and sentence them for up to a five-year jail term.

Taxpayers who have not filed returns for previous years, or who have not reported all of their income, can still voluntarily correct their tax affairs. They may not be penalized or prosecuted if they make a valid disclosure before they become aware of any compliance action being initiated by the CRA against them. These taxpayers may only have to pay the taxes owing, plus interest. More information on the Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP) can be found on the CRA's Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/voluntarydisclosures.

Further information on convictions can also be found in the Media Room on the CRA website at www.cra.gc.ca/convictions.

Canada Revenue Agency

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