Tax man cashing in on Canadian Olympians
TIDES Canada exposed
Construction tycoon Tony Accurso partying at the Salon de Paris club.
Credits: FILE PHOTO
MONTREAL - Quebec construction magnate Tony Accurso, along with three other people, were arrested by the RCMP Thursday morning and charged with running a multimillion-dollar tax evasion scheme.
It is Accurso's second arrest for fraud charges in four months.
QMI Agency witnessed the arrest at 8 a.m. at the tycoon's luxurious home north of Montreal.
Each of the four people arrested have been charged with six counts of conspiracy, fraud, forgery and breach of trust of a public officer.
The three other men arrested in the Montreal area Thursday are Adriano Furgiuele, a former employee at Revenue Canada, his cousin Francesco Bruno, a Quebec construction businessman, and Francesco Fiorino, a chartered accountant.
An RCMP spokesman told reporters Thursday that investigators found a document called "Plan of Action," that allegedly detailed a fraud ring that sought to bilk the federal government of $3 million in tax dollars from companies owned by Accurso and Bruno.
The RCMP said Thursday's arrests were part of a lengthy investigation into alleged fraudulent activity inside Revenue Canada.
According to court documents obtained by QMI Agency, Bruno allegedly created a shell company that penned fake invoices to help evade federal taxes.
The Quebec provincial police's corruption squad arrested Accurso in mid-April along with 14 other people, including the mayor of a small community north of Montreal and a former Quebec Liberal Party fundraiser. Accurso was charged with corruption and fraud in that case.
Accurso, 60, owns two construction firms cited in 2010 for $4.1 million in back taxes.
Accurso made headlines in 2009 after several Quebec politicians were found to have vacationed on his 120-foot luxury yacht.
Quebec has since cancelled 17 contracts worth $21.2 million that had been held by Accurso companies. But one of his biggest holdings, Simard-Beaudry, continues to work on the sprawling McGill super hospital west of downtown Montreal.
A media report revealed that Accurso has landed $1 billion in public contracts since 1990, mainly from Transport Quebec.
It is Accurso's second arrest for fraud charges in four months.
QMI Agency witnessed the arrest at 8 a.m. at the tycoon's luxurious home north of Montreal.
Each of the four people arrested have been charged with six counts of conspiracy, fraud, forgery and breach of trust of a public officer.
The three other men arrested in the Montreal area Thursday are Adriano Furgiuele, a former employee at Revenue Canada, his cousin Francesco Bruno, a Quebec construction businessman, and Francesco Fiorino, a chartered accountant.
An RCMP spokesman told reporters Thursday that investigators found a document called "Plan of Action," that allegedly detailed a fraud ring that sought to bilk the federal government of $3 million in tax dollars from companies owned by Accurso and Bruno.
The RCMP said Thursday's arrests were part of a lengthy investigation into alleged fraudulent activity inside Revenue Canada.
According to court documents obtained by QMI Agency, Bruno allegedly created a shell company that penned fake invoices to help evade federal taxes.
The Quebec provincial police's corruption squad arrested Accurso in mid-April along with 14 other people, including the mayor of a small community north of Montreal and a former Quebec Liberal Party fundraiser. Accurso was charged with corruption and fraud in that case.
Accurso, 60, owns two construction firms cited in 2010 for $4.1 million in back taxes.
Accurso made headlines in 2009 after several Quebec politicians were found to have vacationed on his 120-foot luxury yacht.
Quebec has since cancelled 17 contracts worth $21.2 million that had been held by Accurso companies. But one of his biggest holdings, Simard-Beaudry, continues to work on the sprawling McGill super hospital west of downtown Montreal.
A media report revealed that Accurso has landed $1 billion in public contracts since 1990, mainly from Transport Quebec.
