January 30, 2014 - 3:27 PM
TORONTO - A federal tax auditor in Newmarket, Ont., has been sentenced to three years in prison after collecting more than $1 million in secret commissions as part of an attempt to influence Canada Revenue Agency audits.
Jeffrey Granger pleaded guilty last November to three counts of fraud, breach of trust and accepting secret commissions.
This week, the Ontario Court of Justice sentenced Granger to three-year terms for each offence, to be served concurrently.
Granger was found to have defrauded the government of more than $630,000 by failing to declare the secret commissions, which came from land development and construction companies seeking a light touch on their tax audits.
Federal Revenue Minister Kerri-Lynne Findlay did not comment on the sentence but, in a statement, the CRA's deputy assistant commissioner for Ontario called the matter an isolated incident and said Canadians should remain confident in the fairness of the tax regime.
Last May, an ongoing RCMP investigation into corruption in Montreal resulted in charges against three former Canada Revenue Agency employees, and in October the federal privacy commissioner made more than a dozen recommendations to ensure the tax collector protects sensitive information.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014