Anders tax evasion case adjourned three weeks for disclosure review
The tax evasion case involving former Calgary MP Rob Anders was adjourned on Friday for three weeks so his lawyer can review Crown disclosure with him.
Defence counsel Paul Brunnen appeared briefly by telephone in Calgary provincial court on Friday on behalf of his client.
“I would simply like to reserve plea for three weeks,” the veteran lawyer told Judge Paul Mason.
Brunnen said he has been in contact with assigned prosecutor Tyler Lord to discuss the allegations against Anders.
“I just received disclosure (Thursday) and would like to review it with my client.”
Brunnen, who waived a formal reading of the five charges, adjourned the case to Nov. 20.
Anders, 48, did not appear in court and because he was represented by counsel was not required to do so.
The longtime conservative member of Parliament for Calgary West was charged in September with five charges relating to allegations he failed to properly report income.
According to a document sworn in support of search warrant applications on Anders's Calgary home and the office of his accountant, the charges relate to rental income the former politician received on four residential properties.
The information to obtain search warrants was filed by Canada Revenue Agency investigator Mojeed Lawal in March 2019.
Lawal alleged Anders under-reported his net income between 2012 and 2017 by $750,000.
The charges relate to allegations Anders failed to report rental income of $158,866 in the first two years and “claimed fraudulent rental expenses of $13,850 in 2012 and $20,711 in 2013,” Lawal's statement alleges.
It also alleged Anders failed to claim taxable capital gains on the sale of two of his rental properties, in 2013 and 2016, in the amounts of $140,910 and $213,676.
According to Lawal's investigation, it was estimated Anders's total unreported net income between 2012 and 2017 was $752,694. The allegations contained in the investigator's report are not evidence and have not been tested in court.
Lawal also said tax returns Anders filed between 2001 and 2015 showed a net loss in rental income for each of those 15 years, although none of the charges relate to claims prior to 2012.
The report says Anders claimed a net loss on four rental properties consisting of 30 total units every year during that period for a total loss of $858,961.
That amount was used to offset employment and other income, including his salary as an MP, of more than $2.4 million over that decade and a half to reduce his total income to just under $1.6 million and generate $426,356 in tax refunds, bringing his net tax paid to $305,981.
In September, five tax evasion-related charges were laid against Anders under the Income Tax Act covering the 2012 to 2017 taxation years, including that he “wilfully evaded or attempted to evade payment of taxes” for up to six years.
Anders sat as an MP between 1997 and 2015 and for most of his political career was known for leading the charge against taxes and big government in Ottawa.