The tax fraud trial of a former Bothwell man accused of scamming the Canada Revenue Agency is coming to an end in Chatham.
Michael Hulme, 39, is accused of claiming child tax benefits in 2014 and 2015 for 43 fake children.
Justice Lucy Glenn ruled on Monday Hulme was the person on the phone with the CRA in April of 2015 when the benefits officer followed up on additional information requested by the CRA because his account was under review. Glenn also ruled the benefits officer on the phone at the time was a person of authority acting on behalf of the CRA. She said there is enough evidence the CRA direct deposited $82,000 into Hulme’s rightful bank account and the letter requesting the extra information on the children was sent to his valid address. Glenn’s ruling now allows those facts into evidence.
The CRA's online account security expert, Sheldon D’ecoste, was on the witness stand on Monday to explain the online security process and security features for personal accounts, such as user IDs and passwords. The Chatham court heard Hulme identified himself to the CRA in April of 2015 and was cross-checked and confirmed against the original documents used to create the account. D’ecoste said the Hulme account was created on January 17, 2014 by using a Social Insurance Number, a date of birth, a postal code along with a user ID, and the password and security features were accepted. He also said the Hulme account was used 2,300 from January 2014 to September 2015. D’ecoste said the Hulme CRA account was disabled on May 28, 2015 and the locked-out user ID attempted nearly 300 unsuccessful log-ins but the help desk was not called.
Defence lawyer Ken Marley cross-examined D’ecoste and implied anyone with a copy of Hulme’s income tax return, such as his ex-wife, could set up a CRA account by using Hulme's personal information.
CRA investigator Rebecca Shen also testified at the tax fraud trial on Monday. She said a search warrant issued on September 21, 2017 seized several documents from Hulme’s home at 124 Winter Line in Pain Court, including banking records, child tax records, emails and other documents. The other documents included a letter issued by the CRA with Hulme’s benefits account security code, a statement of investment income, child care expenses and a statement of benefits. Shen said the documents had Hulme’s name and Social Insurance Number on them and were addressed to the former Southend Crescent home in Chatham he shared with his ex-wife. Shen added men’s clothing was also found at the Winter Line home but there was no evidence of anyone else living there.
Closing remarks will be made on Friday.