Court records obtained by CBC’s The Fifth Estate and Radio-Canada show the Canada Revenue Agency paid the refund last May to Teresa Wallace, who runs a B.C. hemp and grain processing business, even though the requested refund was red-flagged for review. (CBC, Radio-Canada) 

Talking point: This is the latest example of millions of dollars worth of fraudulent refunds paid out by the agency. The court documents show that Wallace’s claim was implausible from the outset. The agency’s auditors, who realized the mistake after issuing the refund, said Wallace claimed to have earned $10 million in foreign income in 2023 and paid the same amount in Canadian taxes. Based on that “falsified information,” Wallace allegedly requested a nearly $5-million refund. The CRA doesn’t believe she ever made the $10 million in the first place. The documents say she typically made $54,000 a year. The CBC said it could not reach Wallace for comment.