But Jagdeep “Jay” Bhinder’s alleged criminal activity involving his small business loan scam pales in comparison to what many Indo-Canadian businessmen in Ontario allege were his criminal activities when he was still working for the Canada Revenue Agency. Brampton, Ontario-based businessman Roop Sandhu highlighted Bhinder’s whole sordid saga in a letter to Linda Lizotte-MacPherson, CRA Commissioner in Ottawa, telling her how Bhinder allegedly swindled millions of dollars from poor unsuspecting Indo-Canadian businessmen, sometimes threatening them with fake letters from the CRA and then ensuring the businessmen that he would take care of it internally for a under the table fee. Bhinder is scheduled to appear at the Brampton Court House on August 19 to face fraud charges and sources tell the LINK that he is scheduled to attend a wedding in Surrey on the weekend of August 21.
By R. Paul Dhillon
BRAMPTON — A former Indo-Canadian employee of Canada Revenue Agency from the Mississauga area of Toronto has been charged with massive fraud involving small business loans, the RCMP announced in a release.
The GTA Financial Crime Section of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested and charged Jagdeep “Jay” Bhinder, 46, with 2 counts of Fraud Over $5000 relating to small business loans. The estimated value of loss is approximately $500,000.
The RCMP alleges that, in 2007, Bhinder acquired a small business loan for a retail company by misleading the company principals and providing false documents to the issuing bank resulting in financial loss to the company and the bank.
The RCMP alleges that, also in 2007, Bhinder aided another company to acquire a small business loan through the use of falsified and misleading documents resulting in losses to the issuing bank and the Government of Canada.
Inspector Henry Tso of the RCMP credits the RCMPs vigilance of financial crime as an important factor in the latest arrest. He further states that, “maintaining confidence in the Canadian economy continues to be a strategic priority within the RCMP”.
But Bhinder’s alleged criminal activity involving his small business loan scam pales in comparison to what many Indo-Canadian businessmen in Ontario allege were his criminal activities when he was still working for the Canada Revenue Agency. Bhinder is accused of harassing Indo-Canadian businesses and depositing monies owed by them to the CRA into his personal accounts and then having those monies sent abroad, mostly to India.
Brampton, Ontario-based businessman Roop Sandhu highlighted Bhinder’s whole sordid saga in a letter to Linda Lizotte-MacPherson, CRA Commissioner in Ottawa, telling her how Bhinder allegedly swindled millions of dollars from poor unsuspecting Indo-Canadian businessmen, sometimes threatening them with fake letters from the CRA and then ensuring the businessmen that he would take care of it internally for a under the table fee.
“Jay (Bhinder) will befriend his target, convince him and then start getting favours from him,” Sandhu wrote to CRA’s Lizotte-MacPherson.
“He (Bhinder) will first manage to send letters from the CRA warning him of possible action, then go to the victim, assure him and even tear off the letter. Emboldened by this success, he spread his wings in the world of corruption involving money, women and property. He has amassed huge wealth and said to have bought properties in the name of his father, wife and others,” Sandhu alleged in his letter.
Sandhu further writes in his letter to Lizotte-MacPherson that he is not alone in being swindled, listing Bhinder’s other alleged victims, namely Satwinder Singh, a resident of Caledon, and his brother Baljit Singh, Jaspal Singh (Broadway Bakery in Toronto), Bobby Sharma (East West Auto Shop in Brampton), Advanced Kitchen Cabinets of Brampton, Uppal Videos of Malton, Geetex Trading of Mississauga, and others.
Sandhu, along with his brother Karamjit Singh Sandhu, initially took their complaint to CRA officers in Toronto in December 2010 before writing to the Agency’s Commissioner Lizotte-MacPherson in April 2011. Sandhu wrote in his letter that he had told various CRA officers, including one named Fred Latini, the sordid details of Bhinder’s alleged fraud and crimes but surprisingly he did not get much response from the CRA officers he contacted. Instead, Sandhu alleges that CRA froze his bank account, resulting in extreme hardship for his large family. He was then forced to take his complaint to a higher authority
It is not known whether Bhinder quietly resigned once the CRA began looking into the allegations of his misconduct and alleged criminal activity or he was fired. This case has not been covered by any mainstream media in Toronto, including the usually investigative Toronto Star newspaper.
Sandhu finally received a reply to his letter to Agency’s Commissioner Lizotte-MacPherson dated June 2, 2011 from Danielle Morin, the Agency’s Assistant Commissioner – Taxpayer Services and Debt Management Branch, in which he was informed that his complaint has been registered and that a copy of his letter was also sent to Keith Ashfield, former Minister of National Revenue and Lyse Ricard, Deputy Commissioner of the CRA.
Morin assured Sandhu that the Agency was taking Sandhu’s complaint very seriously and that it will be fully investigated.
“Your comments regarding Mr. Jagdeep Bhinder are of great concern to me,” Morin wrote. “The CRA recognizes that the highest level of public confidence must be maintained if tax and related legislation are to administered efficiently. The CRA sets standards to ensure that its employees conduct themselves professionally and offer quality service to taxpayers. In this respect, senior CRA officials have been made aware of your comments and I assure you that the matter is being carefully reviewed.”
It is not known where the CRA internal investigation has gone as nothing has been made public on Sandhu’s complaint or how the agency dealt with the allegations surrounding Bhinder or when exactly he was let go or resigned.
