Calgary man guilty of using employment scam to steal identities for fake tax refunds

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that Mr. Chun Zhu aka Ted Zhu of Calgary, Alberta pleaded guilty on January 29, 2021, in the Alberta Provincial Court, to one count of fraud over $5,000, and one count of obtaining and using another's identity to commit an indictable offense. Zhu was sentenced on October 1, 2021 and given an eight month sentence for fraud and six month sentence for using another's identity to commit an indictable offense. These two sentences are to be serviced concurrently, followed by 18 months of probation.

The CRA investigation revealed that, as early as March 2018, Zhu started gathering personal information from individuals who applied on fake job postings he set up. In February 2019, Zhu used the information he gathered from these applications to electronically prepare, print out, and file as many as 317 personal tax returns. These returns claimed unwarranted tax refunds totalling more than $760,000 which he attempted to have deposited into bank accounts controlled by himself.

All case-specific information above was obtained from the court records.

Cheating on your taxes affects the services and programs we all rely on to improve our quality of life. While most Canadians obey the tax laws and pay their taxes, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) maintains various programs to protect the integrity of the tax system.

Associated links

• Leads Program
• Voluntary Disclosures Program

Contacts

Joanne de Waal
Communications Manager
Canada Revenue Agency
306-517-0515
cra-arc.media@cra-arc.gc.ca

- 30 -