The agency says it’s looking for information regarding people who are receiving either CERB or CESB who are ineligible, or businesses or charities that are ‘misusing’ the wage subsidy p…
OTTAWA — The Canada Revenue Agency is opening up its snitch line to tips about fraud in COVID-19 federal aid programs amid reports of illicit applications and double dipping.
“If you suspect a potential misuse of the COVID-19 emergency benefits and programs, the National Leads Centre is currently accepting leads on these programs,” now reads the update on the National Leads Program website. The decision to go after cheaters marks a turning point in the government’s desire to take on fraud of COVID-19 emergency aid programs.
Since then, the National Post has reported on a series of internal government memos that told civil servants to process CERB applications even if they suspected fraud. Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded that “getting that help to the 99 per cent of Canadians who needed it quickly and rapidly — even if it meant accepting that one or two per cent might make fraudulent claims — was the choice that we gladly made” over rigorously checking every application. In the Leads Program website update, CRA assures that some verifications are done proactively to ensure that CERB, CESB and the wave subsidy are paid only to eligible recipients.
“The CRA and Service Canada have records of all individuals who’ve received payments for the CERB and CESB, and are verifying to make sure the payments were correctly allocated. Similarly, various pre-payment verifications and post-payment reviews are being conducted by the CRA for the CEWS,” the agency said.
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