Cornwall resident sentenced for fraudulently claiming Canada Child Benefits for phony children

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that, on September 14, 2021, Patrick Paquette (Paquette) of Cornwall, Ontario, was sentenced to a conditional jail sentence of 22 months, including home confinement during the first 11 months and a curfew for the remainder. The Court also placed Paquette under a Probation Order the three years following his conditional sentence, and ordered Paquette to repay a total debt of $130,757. Paquette pleaded guilty on December 2, 2019, in the Ontario Court of Justice, in Cornwall, to one count of fraud under the Criminal Code.

A CRA investigation revealed that Paquette submitted Canada Child Benefit (CCB) applications through the CRA’s “My Account” online service for 10 fictitious children, including applications for two fictitious children submitted on behalf of his common-law partner, without her knowledge. As a result, Paquette received a total of $122,534 in ineligible CCB payments between April 2, 2013, and November 18, 2016. He also received a total of $8,223 in ineligible benefits from April 21, 2017, to September 20, 2017, for the applications of the two fictitious children that he submitted on behalf of his partner.

Paquette initially had the funds deposited into his own bank account through direct deposit. The bank closed that account and Paquette then opened an account in the name of his partner, without her knowledge, and had funds deposited there. He later withdrew these funds.

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

Tax cheating 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, 2020, to March 31, 2021, there were 36 convictions, with Court imposed fines totalling $5,172,844. These taxpayers were sentenced for wilfully evading payment amounts totalling $10,902,950 in federal tax. Out of the 36 convictions, 15 individuals were sent to jail for a total of 26.2 years.

In addition to 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.

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 report income earned and eligible losses, and claim 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. 

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Contacts

Media Relations – Regional contact

Paul N. Murphy
Senior Communications Advisor
647-968-7692
PaulNoel.Murphy@cra-arc.gc.ca