Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Commissioner Bob Hamilton may have been less than forthcoming in testimony regarding the number of employees at the tax agency who were involved in fraudulent claims for COVID benefits.
Although Hamilton previously told a Commons committee that there were “not very many” employees involved in the fraud, CRA spokesperson Sylvie Branch confirmed on June 30 to the National Post that the agency is investigating 600 of its workers for “inappropriately” claiming the $2,000-per-month Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) while they were employed with the CRA.
CERB was intended for Canadians who lost their jobs during COVID, or who had their income disrupted because of the epidemic. This new information contradicts previous testimony of Hamilton on Feb. 2, 2022, at the Commons public accounts committee, when he said that there were “not very many” employees involved, according to Blacklock’s Reporter on July 4….