Five arrested over alleged tax fraud: SQ

Five people have been arrested in connection with an alleged metal recycling tax fraud worth as much as $6 million, the Sûreté du Québec announced on Wednesday.

The provincial force said Marc Lefebvre of Varennes, Karl Caron of Gatineau, Martin Sirard of Laval, Benoît Poirier of Mascouche and Pierre Vaillancourt of Ste-Adèle face charges of fraud and conspiracy. The arrests are the second phase of an investigation called “Nobélium” that saw a dozen raids carried out in Montreal, the Montérégie and Ontario and saw 18 people questioned or arrested in March 2017.

Police allege the fraud involved certain companies paying cash for the purchase of metal in exchange for false invoices provided by a criminal organization, which in turn allowed the companies to avoid paying taxes on the transactions and reduce their taxable revenue. The unpaid taxes on the transactions were kept by the criminal organization.