Belleville solar energy business owner fined over $100,000 for GST/HST fraud

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced today that Kelly Rumble of Belleville, Ontario, was sentenced on June 16, 2023, in the Belleville Courthouse, to 12 months probation and was fined a total of $102,090. Mr. Rumble pleaded guilty to two counts of making false or deceptive statements in Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) returns under the Excise Tax Act.

A CRA investigation revealed that, between January 1, 2014, and January 10, 2016, Mr. Rumble filed false GST/HST returns through his sole proprietorship and submitted false documents in order to receive a total of $105,693 in GST/HST refunds to which he was not entitled. Furthermore, as sole shareholder and director of a solar energy business, Rumble Energy Inc (REI), Mr. Rumble intentionally filed false or deceptive statements in the company’s GST/HST returns for the quarterly filing periods from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2015, inclusive, thereby evading GST/HST in a further amount totalling $49,245.

The fine totalling $102,090 represents 100% of the amount of $49,245 in GST/HST claims obtained as refunds for REI, and 50% of the amount of $105,693 received personally.

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

In addition to the court imposed fines and/or jail sentences, convicted taxpayers have to pay the full amount of tax owing, plus related interest and any penalties assessed by the CRA. 

Tax evasion is a crime. Falsifying records and claims, wilfully not reporting income, or inflating expenses can lead to criminal charges, prosecution, court imposed fines, jail time, and a criminal record. From April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, there were 31 convictions, with court imposed fines totalling $6,925,440. These taxpayers were sentenced for wilfully evading payment amounts totalling $8,142,512 in federal tax. Out of the 31 convictions, 12 individuals were sent to jail for a total of 32.7 years.

The CRA is dedicated to maintaining the integrity of Canada’s tax system, thereby contributing to the social and economic well-being of Canadians. The CRA continues to aggressively pursue tax evasion, and false claims with all the tools available to it. The CRA works to make sure that individuals and businesses report all income earned and only claim benefits to which they are entitled, so that important benefit programs can be administered to those who need them. Any individual or business who underreports income or claims losses or benefits to which they are not entitled may have to repay the benefit amounts and may be subject to other possible action.

The CRA has set up a free subscription service to help Canadians stay current on the CRA’s enforcement efforts.

Associated Links

• Leads Program
• Voluntary Disclosures Program

Contacts

Media Relations
Canada Revenue Agency
613-948-8366
cra-arc.media@cra-arc.gc.ca

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