Wentao Yang, businessman in Panama Papers case, wanted on Canada-wide arrest warrant
The Calgary businessman who facilitated hundreds of millions in deals for Chinese investors to buy Canadian oilpatch assets is accused of evading over $860,000 in taxes.
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A Western Canadian businessman who facilitated hundreds of millions of dollars in deals for Chinese investors to buy Canadian oilpatch assets is wanted on a Canada-wide arrest warrant after he failed to show up for court multiple times on tax-evasion charges stemming from some of those deals and from the Panama Papers leak.
A bench warrant was issued for Wentao Yang in Alberta provincial court in December, which was upgraded to a Canada-wide warrant in Alberta's Court of King's Bench on Tuesday. The warrant indicates it appears that Yang "is no longer a resident of Canada."
He is facing nine charges laid by the Canada Revenue Agency in November, including four counts of filing a false or deceptive tax return, three counts of tax evasion and two counts of fraud. Four of the charges allege he fudged his personal tax returns for 2015 and 2016 and failed to report commissions he earned on business deals, while the rest of the charges relate to allegedly false tax returns he filed or assented to on behalf of Kailas Energy Corp., where he worked as a director.
"The CRA alleges that Yang facilitated the acquisition of multiple Canadian oil and gas assets by investor groups in China. During the 2015 and 2016 taxation years, Yang failed to report consulting fees," the CRA said. "These transactions were done in such a way as to obscure the source of the funds by using several transfers, including through foreign bank accounts, before being deposited into Canadian accounts held by the accused."
Yang was the first person known to be targeted by the CRA when it launched criminal investigations into the Panama Papers, a huge 2016 leak of financial records from offshore tax havens. His million-dollar Calgary home, a West Vancouver mansion he and his wife used, and their accountant's office north of Toronto were searched by the CRA in 2018 as part of that investigation.
The CRA's application to get a search warrant alleged that the Shanghai-born financier evaded more than $860,000 in income tax and GST on nearly $2.7 million in income he pocketed from brokering one of the biggest Chinese purchases in the oilpatch around that time.
The facts
How much in taxes is Wentao Yang accused of evading?
Wentao Yang is accused of evading over $860,000 in income tax and GST on nearly $2.7 million in income from brokering one of the largest Chinese purchases in the Canadian oilpatch.
What properties were searched by the CRA in connection with Yang's case?
The CRA searched Wentao Yang's million-dollar Calgary home, a West Vancouver mansion he and his wife used, and their accountant's office north of Toronto in 2018 as part of its Panama Papers criminal investigation.
