Cochrane liquor store owner sentenced on tax offences

February 9, 2018

Calgary, Alberta

Canada Revenue Agency

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced that Harminder Singh Badesha, of Cochrane Alberta, pleaded guilty on February 6th, 2018, in the Calgary Provincial Court, to charges of making false or deceptive statements on his personal income tax returns. In addition, Gajjan Inc. (operating as Happy’s Liquor Store) pleaded guilty to charges of making false or deceptive statements on its corporate income tax and GST/HST returns. Mr. Badesha and Gajjan Inc. were fined a total of $150,000. In addition to the court imposed fines, Mr. Badesha and Gajjan Inc. will also have to pay the full amount of all taxes owing, plus related interest and any penalties assessed by the CRA.

A CRA investigation of the 2010-2013 tax years revealed that Mr. Badesha would alter the sales records of Gajjan Inc., usually towards the end of the day, to record recurring negative amounts in multiples of $1,000 to offset and reduce the daily sales. There were material amounts deposited to Mr. Badesha’s personal bank accounts that were inconsistent with his personal tax filings.

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

Tax cheating is a crime. Falsification of records and claims, wilfully not reporting income, or inflating expenses can lead to criminal charges, prosecution, jail time, and a criminal record. In 2016-2017, of the 37 convictions, 24 taxpayers were sent to jail for tax evasion for a total of 607 months.

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