Jacques Gagné, a Longueuil, Quebec self-directed RRSP promoter was found guilty of tax evasion at the Longueuil courthouse last Friday, the Canada Revenue Agency said Monday.

The CRA investigation revealed that, for the 1997 to 1999 tax years, Gagné enabled 152 taxpayers to avoid reporting a total of $3,292,050 withdrawn from their registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs), their registered pension plans (RPPs), or their locked-in retirement accounts (LIRAs), thus enabling them to evade a total of $623,033 in income tax.

Many of the taxpayers involved were recruited through deceitful advertisements published in newspapers.

To make it possible for the taxpayers to benefit from their cash assets without paying the taxes owing, Gagné secured accountant certifications attesting that the shares purchased were in fact a “qualified investment” to a self-directed RRSP.

The scheme consisted of using the funds withdrawn to acquire shares from “dummy” corporations, which, in fact, were owned by Gagné. The corporations used in scheme were: 9056-2927 Québec Inc. (Servitek 2000); 9058-9557 Québec Inc. (Educamax); Énergie GYD Inc.; Les Immeubles RV (1986) Inc.; and 9063-3223 Québec Inc. (Services Financiers Mackenzie).

In January 2008, Laurent Boulianne, a salesman for Gagné at the time, was found guilty of tax evasion in a similar scheme. He was fined $37,500 for enabling 16 taxpayers to not declare $350,300.

The sentence hearing for Gagné will be held at a later date.

IE