In early 2020, the Canada Revenue Agency came to believe it had made a $63-million mistake.
The sum, the agency concluded, had been paid out in illegitimate
tax refunds as part of what it now alleges was a sham designed to deceive.
Iris Technologies, a Markham, Ont.-based company, had increased its sales from $27 million to $800 million in two years, according to CRA records. Buying and then exporting bulk internet telephone minutes had put the firm in a position to claim more than $120 million in tax refunds.
The CRA said in court filings that Iris knew or was wilfully blind
to the fact that it was involved in what is known among tax experts as a carousel scheme.
Samer Bishay, Iris’s CEO, has denied the allegations and launched multiple appeals in the Federal Court of Appeal, Federal Court and the Tax Court of Canada. Iris is also suing the agency for $275 million, alleging abuse of process, misrepresentation and misfeasance in public office.
An investigation by The Fifth Estate and Radio-Canada’s Enquête into carousel schemes in Canada has revealed international networks of sophisticated criminals claiming hundreds of millions of dollars from Canadian government coffers while…
