The attorney defending one of the accused in the largest fraud trial in Sudbury, Ontario, history has a simple strategy for his final submission to the jury: shred the credibility of key witnesses. But the prosecution urged the jury to focus less on witness testimony and more on the thousands of pages of financial documents submitted as evidence – and the fact that one of the accused allegedly claimed his ill-gotten wealth on his taxes.
Ralph Steinberg is defending Dirk Plate, the former head of the CMT division of Atlas Copco Canada and one of several people accused of defrauding the company.
The fraud scheme allegedly involved inflating the costs of employee benefit claims. Prosecutors claim that Plate and Paul Caron, the insurance broker who handled employee benefit claims, conspired with Leo Caron, Atlas Copco Canada’s human resources manager at the time of the fraud, and David Hillier, the company’s CMT finance controller, to over-bill the company defrauding it to the tune of nearly $24 million. Caron told the jury “not to feel bad for the company” as it would receive all its lost monies via an insurance claim.
During his final submissions Tuesday, Steinberg cast doubt on the credibility of Hillier and Leo Caron, two key Crown witnesses, according to the Sudbury Star.
Hillier admitted his involvement in the scheme and claimed that Leo Caron, Plate and Paul Caron participated as well, the Star reported. But Steinberg told the jury Hillier – who was granted civil and criminal immunity in exchange for his testimony – wasn’t credible. Steinberg suggested that Hillier and Leo Caron, who also testified, may have colluded to pin blame on Plate.
But prosecutors insisted that documents in evidence proved that Atlas Copco was overbilled for employee benefits between 2001 and 2007, according to a CBC News report. Assistant Crown Attorney Philip Zylberberg also said the records proved the four alleged conspirators personally profited from it, and were found out when the amount being stolen began to increase.
“That’s often how fraud gets found out,” Zylberberg said. “The offenders get greedy and don’t know when to stop.”
The scheme came to light when Hillier and Plate left the Sudbury office – moving on to other positions within the company. Their replacements started asking questions and when they switched providers their premiums dropped by $10 million.
Zylberberg showed the jury documents that indicated Paul Caron sent Atlas Copco bills for employee benefits totaling $32 million, when actual costs were closer to $7 million, CBC News reported. And between 2004 and 2007, Paul Caron claimed his taxable income as $13 million, when his sole source of income was his job at Atlas Copco – a job that apparently paid about $53,000 per year.
“That seems like a very large gift to Revenue Canada,” Zylberberg told the jury.
