West Vancouver businessman fined and sentenced to 29 months in jail for tax evasion

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that, on February 24, 2021, Michael Curt Helmut Scholz, of West Vancouver, was sentenced to 29 months in jail and fined $644,975.71. On June 18, 2020, Mr. Scholz was found guilty of three counts of committing tax-related offences under the Excise Tax Act and two counts of uttering forged documents under the Criminal Code, in the Provincial Court of British Columbia (Robson Square).

A CRA investigation revealed that Mr. Scholz submitted forged documents to obtain benefits relating to the construction of a West Vancouver home. Mr. Scholz forged a bare trust agreement to conceal the property’s true ownership and to support his claim of ineligible input tax credits related to the costs for the residence’s construction and design. Mr. Scholz also forged a lease agreement to decrease the CRA’s assessed value of the property in an attempt to reduce taxes owed.

Mr. Scholz has filed an appeal from the conviction and sentence, and has been released from jail pending the appeal.

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

Tax evasion is a crime. Falsifying records and claims, wilfully not reporting income, or inflating expenses can lead to criminal charges, prosecution, jail time, and a criminal record. From April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, there were 32 convictions, with 13 taxpayers sent to jail for a total of 18.5 years. These individuals were sentenced for wilfully evading payment of $7,427,090 in tax.

The CRA remains dedicated to maintaining the integrity of Canada’s tax system, as well as the social and economic well-being of Canadians during these unprecedented times. The CRA continues to aggressively pursue tax evasion and false claims with all tools available to them. The CRA is continuously working towards making sure that individuals and businesses claim income earned, eligible losses, and benefits to which they are entitled, so that important benefit programs can be administered to those who need them. As a result of COVID-19, we are seeing the increased importance of these benefits, and are working to make sure that they continue to be available to Canadians. Any individual or business who underreports income, or claims losses or benefits to which they are not entitled, including ineligible claims for COVID-19 benefits, 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.

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Contact

Media Relations – Regional contact
Cheryl Yeung
Canada Revenue Agency
604-666-9261