A Brooks man has been sentenced to 3.5 years in jail and fined nearly $800,000 after pleading guilty to fraud and tax evasion tied to COVID-19 subsidies, the Canada Revenue Agency announced Wednesday.Leslie Sand, the sole shareholder and signing authority of Flyte Deck Corporation, was sentenced June 10 in the Medicine Hat Law Courts. According to court records, Sand fraudulently applied for federal pandemic subsidies between April 2020 and August 2022, even though his business — a supposed drone operations and 3D printing firm — never generated any legitimate income.Flyte Deck was used as a front to obtain funding from multiple programs, including the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy, the Hardest Hit Business Recovery Program, the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program, and the Canada Recovery Hiring Program. Sand submitted forged payroll documents, commercial leases, bank statements and employee lists to support the false claims.In total, Sand siphoned $603,376.44 from Flyte Deck’s accounts for personal use and failed to report that money as income. His actions resulted in a court-ordered fine of $798,709.02.The CRA said the case was investigated in partnership with the RCMP’s Redcliff detachment.The agency warned that tax evasion can carry fines of up to 200% of the tax evaded and prison sentences of up to five years. Tax fraud under the Criminal Code can carry jail terms of up to 14 years.
