Jim Love, Canadian Mint chairman, helped run offshore 'tax-avoidance scheme' for clients

[CHIMO]

http://i.cbc.ca/1.2441414.1385510989!/cpImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/flaherty-coin-20120117.jpg

Close friend of Finance Minister Flaherty has also served as tax adviser to government

The chair of the Royal Canadian Mint, who also served as an adviser on international taxation to the federal Finance Department, helped engineer the transfer of millions of dollars of a prominent Canadian family through offshore tax havens in what others involved characterized as a "tax avoidance scheme," documents obtained by CBC News show.

Slightly more than $8 million was moved through offshore entities in Bermuda, Barbados and Antigua, later prompting allegations that the arrangement, if exposed, could lead to potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in "taxes, interest and penalties." The documents show there were also concerns about secrecy and instructions to shred files.

The hundreds of records are part of a sprawling lawsuit against James Barton Love, a Toronto tax lawyer who chairs the mint's board of directors, and others by descendants of former prime minister Arthur Meighen. Quietly settled in 2011, the lawsuit saw family members allege that the offshore transactions, which began in 1996, were unlawful and negligent and that Love "breached his fiduciary duties and acted oppressively."

Love countered in sworn statements that the offshore manoeuvres "resulted in significant savings of Canadian tax" for Meighen's heirs — an amount he estimated at $1 million.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/jim-love-canadian-mint-chairman-helped-run-offshore-tax-avoidance-scheme-for-clients-1.2441347

Enough to make Jim tear-up. Definitely another honourable connection.

[riverbendviewgal]

1. ha!

In the meantime Flaherty is negotiating with USA over FATCA which violates the Canadian Constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedom.