Scott McBride

The appellant was convicted of forgery-related offences and tax fraud arising from his operation of a fake identification business and failure to report income.

On appeal, he argued the trial judge erred by preventing him from reopening his case, improperly finding him vicariously liable as a 'directing mind', misapplying the co-conspirators' exception to the hearsay rule, relying on inadmissible affidavits, unevenly scrutinizing evidence, reversing the burden of proof for tax fraud, and dismissing a stay application for pre-charge delay.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the trial judge made no legal errors, properly assessed the evidence, and correctly concluded that the appellant directly controlled the illegal business and deliberately evaded taxes.

The accused, owner of a payroll services company, was charged with fraud, theft, and uttering forged documents.

She was alleged to have over-deducted Employer Health Tax from clients and failed to remit funds to the Canada Revenue Agency, keeping the excess funds in her trust account for personal use.

The court rejected the accused's testimony as improbable and contradictory to documentary evidence.

The court found the accused guilty on all counts, concluding she intentionally defrauded clients of approximately $366,000 and forged bank documents to conceal the missing remittances.

The respondents were charged with multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy relating to an investment scam.

The trial judge granted a stay of proceedings under s. 11(b) of the Charter, finding unreasonable delay.

The Crown appealed.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding that the trial judge erred in his allocation of the delay, his determination of prejudice, and his balancing of the accused's rights against the societal interest in having serious charges tried.

The stay was set aside and the matter was ordered to proceed to trial.