By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

CRA takes Nanaimo family back to court, appeals groundbreaking $1.7M ruling

Apr 10, 2018 | 12:29 PM

NANAIMO — The legal saga isn’t over for a Nanaimo family awarded nearly $2 million after a lengthy fight with the Canada Revenue Agency.

The CRA filed an appeal on April 3 over the $1.7 million awarded to Tony and Helen Samaroo. The owners of the MGM restaurant were awarded the settlement after their reputation was tarnished and their family ripped apart by a 19-day trial in 2011 for tax evasion and fraud. They were acquitted on all charges and countersued in 2012.

The appeal follows harsh words from the Honourable Justice Robert Punnett, who accused the CRA of “wrongfully and maliciously” persecuting the restaurant owners.

“The manner in which the prosecution was initiated and carried out was egregious. It must be denounced,” Punnett wrote in his lengthy judgment in early March. “CRA employees looked forward with unprofessional glee to the plaintiffs’ anticipated conviction and sentencing and their resulting ruination.”

Now, the CRA is continuing legal action. Their notice of appeal claimed Punnett erred in his judgment of the case and his expectation “the Crown was required to prove the actual mechanics of fraud” when making their case.

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The agency also said Punnet made a “palpable and overriding error” when he said the agency pursued the couple with malice.

The Samaroo’s were charged with 21 counts of tax evasion in 2008, accused of not properly representing their earnings from the graveyard shift at the MGM restaurant.

However, all the owners did was roll the meager earnings from the quiet graveyard shift into their totals from the night shift, the judge in the case found.

Despite being acquitted, the damage to their family was done and the Samaroo’s divorced.

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