A business professor at UPEI pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of tax evasion.
The Crown withdrew five other counts against Sean Michael Hennessey of violating either the Excise Act or the Income Tax Act.
Chief Provincial Court Judge John Douglas fined Hennessey $30,212 -- the total owing from four incidents of willfully evading taxes. Hennessey was given one year to pay the full amount.
He told the court he sincerely regrets his actions.
"This has been a horrific experience...and I will never be here again,'' he told the court.
Hennessey's defence lawyer Joel Pink told The Guardian that no media interviews would be granted.
Hennessey pleaded guilty to: evading payment of $10,485 by failing to report income of $48,534 for 2009, evading paying of $12,820 by failing to report income of $46,066, evading payment of $4,345 in excise taxes for the period between January 2009 and Dec. 21, 2009, and evading payment of $2,562 in excise taxes for the period between Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2010.
As a professor at the School of Business Administration at UPEI, Hennessey teaches in the areas of corporate finance, investment management, business research, and personal finance.
He is currently on leave.
Hennessey helped establish the Tourism Research Centre at UPEI in 2006 and has guided to fruition all of its major projects including the revision and administration of the PEI Visitor Exit Survey.
He has also provided consulting services to numerous private and public sector organizations, across abroad range of projects and topics.
