Leslie Sand of Brooks, Alberta, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail and fined $798,709.02 for defrauding the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) by falsely claiming COVID-19 subsidies through a fake drone company.
The sentence was handed down on June 10 in Medicine Hat, according to the CRA.
Sand was the sole shareholder and signing authority of Flyte Deck Corporation, a supposed drone flight operations and 3D printing business. However, the CRA confirmed Flyte Deck was never a legitimate company and had no real business income.
Between April 2020 and August 2022, Sand applied for multiple COVID relief subsidies including the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy, Hardest Hit Business Recovery Program, Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program, and Canada Recovery Hiring Program.
To support these applications, Sand created and submitted false business records, fake commercial leases, payroll records, bank documents, and employee lists.
From Flyte Deck, Sand appropriated $603,376.44 and failed to report this taxable income.
The RCMP arrested Sand following a joint investigation with the CRA.
The CRA emphasized the seriousness of tax evasion, warning that convictions can lead to fines between 50% and 200% of evaded tax and jail time up to 14 years for fraud under the Criminal Code.
In addition to the jail time and fines, Sand is required to repay the full amount owed to the CRA, including accrued interest and penalties.
