A Halifax businessman has been fined more than $113,000 for submitting false GST/HST returns for two quarterly periods in 2012.
Hotel and restaurant owner Pantelis Panagiotis Giannoulis, who’s also known as Peter Giannnoulis Sr., pleaded guilty this past week in Halifax provincial court to two charges of making false statements under the federal Excise Tax Act.
Giannoulis, 73, was ordered to pay two court fines totalling $113,223, which represents 100 per cent of the taxes that were evaded.
In addition to the fines imposed by Judge Aleta Cromwell, Giannoulis will have to pay the full amount of tax owing, plus interest and any civil penalties assessed by the Canada Revenue Agency.
An investigation by CRA revealed that Giannoulis knowingly under-reported the amount of tax collected from customers at the Comfort Hotel Bayers Lake and the former Canadiana Pub and Grill between April 1 and Sept. 30, 2012.
The court fines are payable by July of this year and carry default prison time of up to 758 days in custody.
