A Calgary man is facing charges in connection to an employment scam that was used to steal identities and file fake tax refunds totalling more than $760,000.
In a news release Friday, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) said Chun Zhu, also known as Ted Zhu, was charged on July 16 with one count of claiming a refund he’s not entitled to, two counts of fraud over $5,000 and two counts of obtaining and using another’s identity to commit an offense.
According to the CRA, the charges stem back as far as March 2018, when Zhu allegedly gathered personal information from people who applied to “fake job postings” that he had set up.
In February 2019, Zhu used the information he had gathered from these applications to electronically prepare, print out and file as many as 317 personal tax returns, the CRA said.
“These returns claimed unwarranted tax refunds totalling more than $760,000 — which he attempted to have deposited into bank accounts which he controlled,” the release said.
The CRA investigates suspected cases of tax evasion, fraud and other serious violations of tax laws and recommends cases to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) for criminal prosecution.
In 2019-2020, the PPSC conviction rate for tax-related crimes was 94 per cent.