A tax fraud trial continues for a Bothwell man accused of claiming child tax benefits for more than 40 children.
Wednesday was the fourth day of the trial against Michael Hulme, 39, who is charged with four offences under the Income Tax Act for allegedly claiming benefits for 43 children under his care and scamming the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for $61,000 in benefits in 2014 and 2015.
Justice Lucy Glenn heard more possible evidence and testimony from another witness in Chatham court on Wednesday and will have a decision at a later date on whether that evidence will be admissible or not.
Rebecca Shen, a criminal investigator with the CRA, investigated the Hulme case and told the court the National Bank of Canada made direct deposit payments to Hulme's bank account in Tilbury. However, she admitted to the defence that she couldn't connect the internet provider address used to create the online benefits application (My Account) to Hulme's account because Tek Savvy and Cogeco purge that information after a certain period of time.
Defence lawyer Ken Marley said it's even uncertain if the social insurance number on record is actually Hulme's and added that anyone can create a fictional "My Account" to get benefits.
"The frailty of evidence is no better today than it was yesterday," said Marley.
The court found out through Marley's questioning that no birth certificates are required for Canadian children under one year of age needing benefits. It's unknown why.
Crown prosecutor Paul Bailey said "there is no evidence of reasonable doubt" because "we know the money trail".
"There's no possibility of someone knowing all of Hulme's personal information [to apply for child tax benefits] and intercepting his mail for the "My Account" password knowing the benefits would be paid into his bank account," Bailey said.
He said Marley's scenario is not plausible and is too incredible.
The trial is tentatively scheduled to resume on November 22, 2019 with two more days, yet to be determined, to be scheduled later.