COVID Relief Funding Fraud Nets Man Penitentiary Sentence

A guilty plea involving a fraud of nearly $800,000 of federal COVID relief funds will see a local man spend the next three-and-a-half year behind bars with a five-year timetable to pay back the money.

Leslie Sand entered the guilty plea Tuesday at Medicine Hat’s Alberta Court of Justice, admitting to bilking the federal government out of $798,709.02 through fraudulent claims by his corporation, Flyte Deck.

The court heard Sand was the sole director, but the company offered no products or services nor had any employees. It was also delisted provincially in 2021 due to corporate filing delinquencies.

Between April 2020 and September 2022, Sand applied for wage and rent subsidies across five different federal COVID relief programs.

Following a tip in late-2020, Redcliff RCMP and the Canadian Revenue Agency launched an investigation into Sand.

That investigation uncovered that despite Flyte Deck filing claims for subsidies involving 42 employees, the names used were unwitting real people and infants as well as completely fictious individuals.

The court heard a truck, Harley Davidson and motorhome were purchased with the ill-gotten funds but neither cash nor property amounting to any value were recovered at the time of the arrest of Sand.

Sand also entered a guilty plea to a second count involving failure to pay more than $155,000 in income tax linked to the fraud as well. A two-year sentence to be served concurrently was handed down for that offence.

While Sand’s three-and-a-half-year sentence was not in question as part of a joint Crown-defence sentencing submission, whether the man should have a chance to repay the federal government the funds illicitly obtained was argued.

The court heard that a fine-in-lieu of forfeiture finding involving the combined COVID funds and income tax bill would result in nearly four more years in custody if given no time to pay.

Justice Ted Fisher questioned whether the accused should be given at least a chance to repay the funds for the benefit of the victim, in this case, ultimately the taxpayer.

But he wouldn’t go so far as to agree to a 20 to 25 year starting point, instead opting for a five-year starting point option presented as agreeable to both the Crown and defence to gauge whether there will be a good faith attempt at repayment.

The amount to be repaid was set at nearly $800,000, inclusive of both the income tax and fraud fines.

Sand’s father addressed the court in his son’s defence, stating his son had been making great progress in dealing with addiction issues.

He was less kind in his assessment of the federal government, stating, “they allowed this to happen.”

He noted his son had no formal business training yet, “a guy could walk off the street and they give him this sort of money.”

Sand’s also addressed the court at sentencing, stating he’s been clean of methamphetamine and alcohol for two years and enrolled in a recovery program.

“As part of my amends, I am bound to pay all debts,” he told the court.

If a good faith attempt is made to repay the funds over the first five years following Sand’s release from custody, he likely will be given an extension if the funds aren’t fully repaid.

But Justice Fisher warned Sand will likely be returned to custody if no effort of repayment is made.