The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) refuses to provide more details on the case that has been making headlines since 2015.
A criminal investigation by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) in the KPMG affair ended more than a year ago, without the conclusions being made public, Radio-Canada has learned.
The current status of the case remains uncertain. L’BOW declines to comment, as do federal prosecutors with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, who we understand have been following the case closely for several years.
KPMG also did not respond to requests for comment from Radio-Canada.
According to a series of reports published by Radio-Canada and CBC since 2015, KPMG has implemented a procedure by which wealthy Canadians transferred assets to a tax haven and then recovered the funds tax-free. L’BOW had come to the conclusion that this process had been created in 1999 to deceive tax department.
Minister Lebouthillier now silent on the file
In 2017, the Minister of National Revenue, Diane Lebouthillier, had promised to get to the bottom of the file, and to possibly make public the conclusions of the investigations.
We’ll go all the way and we’ll catch ’emhad launched Diane Lebouthillier on the show 24/60 in March 2017. When everything will come out publicly, it will be easier.
This had confirmed that a criminal investigation was underway, not only against the investors, but also against the accounting firm.
” We will summarize like this: “fraudsters – even KPMG at the limit – could be accused?” “
” Indeed. Because the people who set up schemes, they too, it is criminal. “
In a recent interview, however, Minister Lebouthillier said that she must comply with the confidentiality obligations that are enshrined in the Income Tax Act of Canada.
At the legal level, at the level of the Canada Revenue Agency, I cannot speak of any particular caseshe said in an interview last Friday.
Diane Lebouthillier says no one in the country would want the Minister of National Revenue get your hands on some information that’s confidential.
Not to mention specific cases, she added that as part of a criminal investigation, theBOW works with federal prosecutors.
The agency investigates all kinds of files, it is really in its mandate to investigate files which, for it, would cause people not to respect, not to observe the rulesshe explains. When the folders are mounted, [les enquêteurs de l’Agence] will work with the Department of Justice to find out whether these files can be brought to court or not.
the stratagem
Radio Canada and CBC revealed in a series of reports over the years that KPMG, one of Canada’s largest accounting firms, had set up a scheme to help multi-millionaires hide their fortunes on the island of Man.
The accounting firm promised the accumulation of assets and investments tax-free and confidential. According to an internal document, the target clientele had to have at least $10 million to invest abroad.
Investors could thus pretend to give their fortune to a front company on the island of Mana tax haven located between England and Ireland, to subsequently receive donations tax free.
According to information obtained by Radio-Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency made a strictly confidential offer to KPMG clients in 2015.
This offer allowed KPMG clients to avoid having to face the courts by identifying themselves to the Agency. Customers would only have to pay the taxes due, benefiting from a reduced interest rate, without any penalties or legal action.
In 2016, a senior KPMG executive, Gregory Wiebehad testified before a parliamentary committee about what he described as tax plan. This investment strategy had been externally verified and complied with the measures and standards in place at the time, he testified.
However, he admitted that the scheme could undermine the confidence of Canadians in the tax system in place.
The times were very different. We were smoking in restaurants in 2006. We were texting and driving until two years ago. Times are changing, and we are changing with them. But if I look at it that way, I can’t defend our actions.testified Gregory Wiebe.
In 2016, a senior official at theBOW told the deputies that the investigations in this file were continuing, without however saying if they were of a criminal nature or not.
Our work in this regard is far from complete.had asserted Ted Gallivan.
With information from Frédéric Zalac and Harvey Cashore
Source: Radio-Canada
