Directors of GTA temporary staffing agency given conditional sentences for tax evasion

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) national headquarters in Ottawa on Friday, June 28, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

The directors of a staffing agency in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) have been given conditional sentences after they pleaded guilty to fraud for evading a combined $846,887 in federal income taxes.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) revealed on Tuesday that Vaughan residents Ghansham Vania and Davinder Vania were handed conditional sentences of two years less a day and fined $450,000 and $500,000, respectively.

The sentences and the fines were a result of CRA’s investigation, which found that the two used their business’s funds for personal use. The Vania’s were the sole directors of “Team Lease,” a business providing temporary labour services to companies in the GTA.

According to the CRA, the business’s funds were diverted into 31 personal bank accounts held in their names or those of their family members, and then used for personal purposes.

The federal tax agency said it traced some money to the purchase of properties in Ontario and Florida in the United States.

“These funds were taxable benefits as well as income obtained from Team Lease but were not reported in Ghansham Vania and Davinder Vania’s personal income tax returns, therefore underreporting over $1.3 and $1.5 million respectively on their individual income tax returns for the years of 2013-2016,” the CRA said.

The federal agency noted that Ghansham Vania evaded $394,103 in federal income taxes while Davinder Vania evaded $452,784.

The CRA said the two have to pay the full amount of tax owing and related interest and penalties.

According to the federal agency, 106 taxpayers have been convicted between April 2020 and March 2025 for evading or attempting to evade the payment of more than $39 million taxes.