Concetta (Connie) Zary

The accused was sentenced after a jury conviction on eight counts of tax evasion under the Income Tax Act and Excise Tax Act arising from failure to report approximately $1.5 million in income from a foreign exchange trading education business and failure to remit GST between 2003 and 2006.

The total tax evaded was approximately $475,000.

The court emphasized that general deterrence is the primary sentencing objective for tax evasion offences because the integrity of the taxation system depends on voluntary compliance.

Despite the offender’s lack of prior record and personal hardships following the charges, the court found significant aggravating factors including deliberate concealment of income and breach of trust regarding GST funds.

A custodial sentence was imposed along with a fine of 150% of the taxes evaded.

The accused applied for a stay of proceedings on charges of tax evasion, alleging abuse of process arising from late disclosure shortly before the scheduled trial.

The Crown had provided multiple volumes of trial materials days before trial, asserting that the documents largely contained previously disclosed records reorganized into trial volumes.

The court held that the materials constituted evidence intended to be tendered at trial and therefore fell within the Crown’s disclosure obligations under R. v. Stinchcombe, and that the disclosure was not provided sufficiently in advance of trial.

However, applying the abuse of process framework set out in R. v. Nixon, the court found that the prejudice alleged by the accused did not meet the high threshold required for a stay.

The adjournment of the trial, combined with the opportunity for the defence to review the new materials, was found to be an adequate remedy.