Alberta man convicted of GST refund fraud under Competition Act

Ottawa, July 30, 2010 — In part owing to the assistance of the Alberta Partnership Against Cross-Border Fraud, of which the Competition Bureau is a member, an Alberta man has been found guilty of operating a fraudulent GST refund scheme that defrauded victims of $3.6 million. Bradley O'Neil, who owned International Tax Refund Services, was convicted of one count of misleading representations under the Competition Act, and was convicted of fraud exceeding $5000 and theft exceeding $5000 under the Criminal Code. O'Neil misled tourists seeking GST refunds into believing they would receive their refund within days, when O'Neil instead reinvested the money in his business. There were more than 49,000 victims of O'Neil's scam between 1999 and 2003. Sentencing is scheduled for September 2010 in Airdrie, Alberta.

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