Law360 Canada ( May 17, 2018, 8:35 AM EDT) -- Appeal by the accused from his sentence on two counts of tax evasion. The accused was involved in a scheme to market fraudulent tax write-offs as a form of alternative investment. He was convicted of one count of tax evasion under the Income Tax Act in relation to $2,200,000 in unpaid tax and one count of tax evasion under the Excise Tax Act in relation to $166,367 in unremitted GST. Both the accused and his co-accused pleaded guilty. They were each sentenced to three years' incarceration, concurrent on each count, a fine of $1,000,000 for the tax evasion and $88,183 for the unremitted GST. The sentencing judge ordered that the fines be paid immediately and, in case of default, that each serve one additional year of incarceration, consecutive to the three years' incarceration. Both the accused and the co-accused had declared bankruptcy. They had no funds to pay any of the taxes or fines or to compensate the contributors for their losses. At the time of sentencing, the accused was 41 years of age and was married with two children. He had no prior record. Following his arrest, he moved to the US and began a similar investment scheme. The accused and his wife had since separated and he had sole care of the two children. The accused appealed his sentence on the grounds that the sentencing judge erred in his weighing of the evidence, sentencing factors and circumstances; that the sentencing judge imposed a sentence that was unduly harsh; and that he was prejudiced as a result of being represented by the same lawyer as his co-accused. The Crown did not file a cross-appeal, but it argued that the sentencing judge erred by imposing fines less than the minimum, by imposing victim fine surcharges and by not offering the accused time to pay....