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An Ottawa dentist has been sentenced to house arrest in what tax officials say is the first case in which the Criminal Code’s money laundering provisions have been successfully used in a tax evasion conviction.

Kin Tung Fong pleaded guilty Thursday to one count each of tax fraud and laundering the proceeds of crime, the Canada Revenue Agency said in a release Friday. He got a conditional sentence of two years less a day including 12 months of house arrest followed by a curfew.

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The CRA said that its investigation had revealed the Fong used his spouse to transfer unreported income to Costa Rica under so-called private contracts to him. The funds were used to buy land owned by a Costa Rican corporation linked to Fong and to make payments to related beneficiaries.

From 2008 to 2012, Fong reported income from his dentistry practice totalling $2,045,572 on his individual tax returns but then deducted the entire amount as a business expense, evading federal taxes totalling $538,061.