Suspect made tax return claims totalling more than $760,000
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has charged a man from Calgary, Alberta for allegedly setting up an employment scam to try to steal tax return claims worth more than $760,000.
The CRA noted that Chun Zhu aka Ted Zhu has been charged with one count of claiming a refund to which he or any other person is not entitled, two counts of fraud over $5,000, and two counts of obtaining and using another's identity to commit an indictable offense.
The criminal charges allege that, as early as March 2018, Zhu started gathering personal information from individuals who applied on fake job postings that he set up.
In February 2019, CRA alleges that Zhu used the information he gathered from these applications to electronically prepare, print out, and file as many as 317 personal tax returns. The returns claimed unwarranted tax refunds which he attempted to have deposited into bank accounts which he controlled.
“Any individual or business who claims income earned, losses or benefits that they are not entitled to, including ineligible claims related to new COVID-19 benefits, will face serious consequences,” said CRA.
The CRA investigates suspected cases of tax evasion, fraud, and other serious violations of tax laws and recommends cases to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) for criminal prosecution. In 2019-2020, the PPSC conviction rate for tax-related crimes was 94 per cent.
