Tax dodgers seek break from Sask. Court of Appeal
A Moose Jaw naturopath and his wife who once contended they were “natural persons” exempt from Canada’s income tax laws are fighting to overturn their convictions and jail sentences for tax evasion.
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal heard Friday how Douglas Preston Amell and Heidi Lynne Keyzer have declared bankruptcy since receiving hefty fines on top of jail sentences. If the convictions stand, their lawyer Doug Christie wants conditional sentences for the couple, parents of three children, so they could serve time in the community instead of a jail cell.
“We don’t want to turn someone who was misguided into a hardened criminal,” said the B.C. lawyer.
He added that the couple have had to forfeit everything of value because of the bankruptcy.
“I’m not sure how much destitution (the prosecution) feels is appropriate,” said Christie.
Crown prosecutor Doug Curliss urged the judges to let the sentences stand.
“These people continue to believe they don’t have to pay taxes,” he said.
After a full day hearing legal arguments, Justices Stuart Cameron, Gary Lane and Maurice Herauf reserved decision.
Amell, then the 42-year-old operator of the Moose Jaw Naturopathic Clinic, was sentenced in 2010 to 15 months in jail on top of one month he’d already served after he was convicted of four Income Tax Act offences, including failing to report nearly $700,000 in income, evading payment of federal tax, falsely obtaining GST credits and assisting his wife in obtaining GST credits and Canada Child Tax Benefits (totalling $15,303) to which she wasn’t entitled. He was also fined $189,796.
Keyzer, then 36, was sentenced to five months in jail and fined $33,106 for three similar offences. In addition, Amell’s father Robert Lawrence Amell, then 65, was sentenced to three months in jail and fined $20,334 for two offences. Robert Amell, also represented by Christie, appealed conviction and not his jail sentence, which he has already served.
In addition to the fines, which represent 100 per cent of the benefits illegally received and evaded taxes, the three are also required to pay the outstanding taxes plus penalties and interest.
Curliss told the court that with the three declaring bankruptcy, they’re trying to walk away from paying about $1 million.
But Christie noted that the fines will stand regardless of a bankruptcy judgment, although not necessarily the tax penalties.
Judge Douglas Kovatch, who presided at the trial, found tax returns were correctly filed until 2003 when the three executed a “contract for hire, independent agent agreement” with the clinic, where Robert Amell and Keyzer were employees. They contended any money was “compensatory,” not taxable income. No income was reported between 2003 and 2006.
Doug Amell admitted the idea stemmed from a seminar by the Paradigm Education Group. Kovatch characterized the speakers as “nothing more than the proverbial snake oil salesmen.”
Cameron pressed Christie about whether or not the Amells regret getting caught up in a “charlatan scheme” or still believe they were right. “He realizes now this was the biggest mistake of his life,” Christie replied. But Curliss noted that in reports prepared for the 2010 sentencing, they contended they had been “betrayed by the system.” Christie said they have paid income tax for the past two years.
On the conviction appeal, he argued several legal errors had been made, including issues with obtaining the search warrant; Kovatch continuing to hear evidence when Keyzer was absent due to illness; and the judge’s failure to specifically tell Doug Amell, who wasn’t represented at the trial by a lawyer, he wasn’t required to testify.
Curliss contended no errors were made, but if they were, they didn’t warrant overturning the convictions.
© Regina Leader-Post
Doug Christie. Wasn't he the lawyer who represented the hard hat Holocaust denier guy?
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal heard Friday how Douglas Preston Amell and Heidi Lynne Keyzer have declared bankruptcy since receiving hefty fines on top of jail sentences. If the convictions stand, their lawyer Doug Christie wants conditional sentences for the couple, parents of three children, so they could serve time in the community instead of a jail cell.
“We don’t want to turn someone who was misguided into a hardened criminal,” said the B.C. lawyer.
He added that the couple have had to forfeit everything of value because of the bankruptcy.
“I’m not sure how much destitution (the prosecution) feels is appropriate,” said Christie.
Crown prosecutor Doug Curliss urged the judges to let the sentences stand.
“These people continue to believe they don’t have to pay taxes,” he said.
After a full day hearing legal arguments, Justices Stuart Cameron, Gary Lane and Maurice Herauf reserved decision.
Amell, then the 42-year-old operator of the Moose Jaw Naturopathic Clinic, was sentenced in 2010 to 15 months in jail on top of one month he’d already served after he was convicted of four Income Tax Act offences, including failing to report nearly $700,000 in income, evading payment of federal tax, falsely obtaining GST credits and assisting his wife in obtaining GST credits and Canada Child Tax Benefits (totalling $15,303) to which she wasn’t entitled. He was also fined $189,796.
Keyzer, then 36, was sentenced to five months in jail and fined $33,106 for three similar offences. In addition, Amell’s father Robert Lawrence Amell, then 65, was sentenced to three months in jail and fined $20,334 for two offences. Robert Amell, also represented by Christie, appealed conviction and not his jail sentence, which he has already served.
In addition to the fines, which represent 100 per cent of the benefits illegally received and evaded taxes, the three are also required to pay the outstanding taxes plus penalties and interest.
Curliss told the court that with the three declaring bankruptcy, they’re trying to walk away from paying about $1 million.
But Christie noted that the fines will stand regardless of a bankruptcy judgment, although not necessarily the tax penalties.
Judge Douglas Kovatch, who presided at the trial, found tax returns were correctly filed until 2003 when the three executed a “contract for hire, independent agent agreement” with the clinic, where Robert Amell and Keyzer were employees. They contended any money was “compensatory,” not taxable income. No income was reported between 2003 and 2006.
Doug Amell admitted the idea stemmed from a seminar by the Paradigm Education Group. Kovatch characterized the speakers as “nothing more than the proverbial snake oil salesmen.”
Cameron pressed Christie about whether or not the Amells regret getting caught up in a “charlatan scheme” or still believe they were right. “He realizes now this was the biggest mistake of his life,” Christie replied. But Curliss noted that in reports prepared for the 2010 sentencing, they contended they had been “betrayed by the system.” Christie said they have paid income tax for the past two years.
On the conviction appeal, he argued several legal errors had been made, including issues with obtaining the search warrant; Kovatch continuing to hear evidence when Keyzer was absent due to illness; and the judge’s failure to specifically tell Doug Amell, who wasn’t represented at the trial by a lawyer, he wasn’t required to testify.
Curliss contended no errors were made, but if they were, they didn’t warrant overturning the convictions.
© Regina Leader-Post
Doug Christie. Wasn't he the lawyer who represented the hard hat Holocaust denier guy?
