A Thunder Bay businessman has been sentenced to a conditional term of two years less a day and fined $128,101 for tax evasion and making false statements on tax returns. Henry Grant Wetelainen, sole director and shareholder of 1584859 Ontario Inc., was sentenced on January 21, 2025, at the Thunder Bay Courthouse following a conviction in June 2023.
Wetelainen was found guilty of three counts of evading taxes and one count of filing false tax returns, according to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). A CRA investigation revealed that his company, which operated as a mining and mineral exploration management firm, failed to file corporate income tax returns for 2009, 2010, and 2011, leaving $367,261 in taxable income unreported. The corporation also failed to file Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) returns for 2010 and 2011, neglecting to remit $46,132 in GST/HST collected.
The investigation further uncovered that Wetelainen personally failed to report $576,601 in income for the same years, funds he had taken from the company and used for personal purposes. He reported no income on his tax returns during this period.
The CRA acknowledged the role of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) in supporting the investigation. In addition to court-imposed penalties, convicted individuals must pay all outstanding taxes, interest, and any further penalties assessed by the CRA.
The CRA reminded Canadians that tax evasion is a criminal offence with severe consequences, including fines, jail time, and a criminal record. Between April 2019 and March 2024, Canadian courts convicted 135 taxpayers of evading more than $44 million in taxes. These convictions resulted in $25.1 million in fines and over 108 years of combined jail sentences for 58 offenders.
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