Dieppe business and five employees fined $226,048 for tax evasion

Moncton, New Brunswick, February 12, 2016… The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced today that George’s Plumbing & Heating (1985) Limited, of Dieppe, New Brunswick as well as five of its employees pleaded guilty on February 9, 2016 in Moncton Provincial Court to seven charges of tax evasion.

The Court fined George’s Plumbing & Heating $51,654 for one count of evading the payment of taxes by failing to declare income and $35,683 for one count of evading the payment or remittance of Goods and Services Tax for the 2009 and 2010 taxation years.

Kristine Thibodeau, Yves Leblanc, Daniel Leger, David Leger and Sylvio Landry pleaded guilty to one count each of evading the payment of taxes by failing to declare income.

The CRA investigation revealed that, for the 2009 and 2010 tax years, all five employees submitted invoices for personal expenses that had been altered to appear as business expenses for George’s Plumbing & Heating. For some expenses, suppliers were provided with purchase orders with legitimate job contract numbers that did not correctly reflect what was purchased.

They were fined a total of $138,711. A breakdown of the fines is as follows:

Kristine Thibodeau was fined $11,549
Yves Leblanc was fined $32,902
Daniel Leger was fined $23,846
David Leger was fined $30,403
Sylvio Landry was fined $40,011

In addition to the court-imposed fines, the individuals must pay the outstanding amount of tax owing, plus interest and any civil penalties that may be assessed by the CRA.

The preceding information was obtained from the court records.

The CRA takes tax evasion very seriously. When an individual or business does not fully comply with tax legislation, an unfair burden is placed on law-abiding taxpayers and businesses and the integrity of Canada's tax base is jeopardized.

If you have ever made a tax mistake or omission, the CRA is offering you a second chance to make things right through its Voluntary Disclosures Program (VDP). If you make a valid disclosure before you become aware that the CRA is taking action against you, you may only have to pay the taxes owing plus interest. More information on the VDP can be found on the CRA's website at http://www.cra.gc.ca/voluntarydisclosures.

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

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For broadcast Use

George’s Plumbing & Heating (1985) Limited and five of its employees were fined a total of $226,048 after pleading guilty to seven charges of tax evasion. The business, based in Dieppe, New Brunswick, was fined $51,654 for one count of evading the payment of taxes by failing to declare income and $35,683 for one count of evading the payment or remittance of Goods and Services Tax for the 2009 and 2010 taxation years. Kristine Thibodeau, Yves Leblanc, Daniel Leger, David Leger and Sylvio Landry pleaded guilty to one count each of evading the payment of taxes by failing to declare income. They were fined a total of $138,711.

For media information

Mayya Assouad
Communications Advisor, Atlantic Region
902-426-9889

Date modified:

2016-02-12