A French national has been issued a fine of nearly $900,000 and ordered to serve more than three years in prison after being convicted of collecting fraudulent tax returns in Quebec.
Revenu Québec said David Lorenzo Gordo, a resident of Montech, France, has never lived in Quebec but met a woman living in the province after the two met on an online gaming website.
The tax agency said during his visits to Quebec, the 54-year-old man carried out a fraud scheme by registering a company, David Lorenzo Gordo Import/Export Inc., which operated in the wholesale trade of food and alcoholic beverages.
“The investigation showed that Mr. Lorenzo Gordo fabricated 99 false invoices which he used to justify the production of numerous false Quebec sales tax (QST) returns between January 2020 and September 2021,” Revenu Québec said in a news release on Thursday.
“During this period, he attempted to obtain unlawful QST refunds of $722,962.15. However, the offender succeeded in obtaining several refunds totaling $590,101.44.”
Authorities secured the conviction after conducting searches in September 2022 in Saint-Eustache, Que. He was sentenced on Feb. 25 to pay $896,424.83 in fines and to serve 42 months in a Quebec prison.
It remains unclear when he might start serving that sentence since he is currently in France. Revenu Québec told CTV News that it will present a “request for incarceration” on April 30.
Gordo “methodically planned” the fraudulent scheme by involving Quebec suppliers and registering his company in Quebec and France, in addition to opening several bank accounts in the province.
The tax agency said the fight against tax fraud is a priority to ensure residents and businesses “pay their fair share of taxes.”
