MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — The owner of a southern Alberta drone business has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison and fined nearly $800,000 for tax evasion and COVID-19 subsidy fraud.
Leslie Sand of Brooks, Alta., was sentenced June 10 in the Medicine Hat Law Courts after pleading guilty to fraud and tax evasion in connection with a scheme involving his company, Flyte Deck Corporation.
According to the Canada Revenue Agency, Flyte Deck was reported as a drone flight operations and 3D printing business. But investigators determined the company never operated as a legitimate business and never generated any income.
Between April 2020 and August 2022, Sand fraudulently applied for a series of federal pandemic relief programs, including the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy, and the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program. The CRA says Sand used fake payroll and lease records, false bank documents, and forged employee lists to support his claims.
In total, he pocketed more than $600,000 in benefits, which he failed to report as taxable income.
The investigation was conducted by the CRA in partnership with the RCMP detachment in Redcliff, Alta.
Sand was fined $798,709.02 and remains responsible for repaying the full amount of the taxes owing, plus any additional penalties and interest.
The CRA says it remains committed to enforcing tax laws and pursuing those who abuse government programs or fail to report income, noting tax fraud convictions under the Criminal Code can result in prison terms of up to 14 years.