RCMP arrest Revenue Canada officials

Two Canada Revenue Agency employees have been arrested and two others suspended for their alleged roles in connection with a $4.5-million tax-fraud scheme, Revenue Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said Wednesday.


Blackburn said the two arrested employees were team leaders at the Montreal tax-services office of the CRA.

In an interview with CTV Newsnet's Power Play, Blackburn said his organization called in the RCMP after the CRA's investigation was underway.

"It shows that our own internal investigation works quite well," he said. "Our employees are professional, there's 45,000 of them, but sometimes (these) situations happen."

At a news conference in Montreal earlier on Wednesday, he referred questions about possible charges about the two employees to the RCMP.

Blackburn said the agency's investigation was originally looking into firms owned by businessman Tony Accurso, a leader in the Montreal construction industry.

The CRA alleges that three construction companies, Simard-Beaudry Construction Inc., Construction Louisbourg Ltee., and Hyprescon, funnelled nearly $4.5 million into two dummy corporations that were not involved in any commercial business. The agency says the dummy corporations were used to falsify invoices.

The CRA says that in these types of schemes, the invoices are fraudulently used to reduce individuals' or companies' revenues for tax savings purposes.

The four CRA employees, who are all suspended without pay pending an internal agency investigation, allegedly tried to hide the activities from the tax agency.

The investigation was launched as a result of regular internal audits into the agency's workings, Blackburn said.

"The system is well-protected," he said.

But opposition critics says that the audit system needs to be tightened, considering that there are billions going to be spent in infrastructure as part of the government economic stimulus plans.

"It's very troubling (and) it's not very good timing for Canadians who are struggling and trying to make ends meet," Liberal treasury board critic Dan McTeague said.

None of the allegations have been proven in court as of yet, and all persons under suspicion should be considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Murder victim predicted own death

Edmonton Alberta's fifth homicide victim of the year predicted his own death just prior to leaving his north Saskatchewan reserve, says his aunt.

On Tuesday night, Landis Tyson Stick, 24, told his mother Connie, " 'If I go to Edmonton, I'll be coming back in a box,' " said aunt Janet Stick, who is speaking for the distraught family. "To me, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy."

PROPHETIC WORDS

Although his family thought he was going to Saskatoon and despite his now-prophetic words, Stick left the Onion Lake reserve Wednesday evening for Edmonton.

Around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, Stick was fatally stabbed outside a downtown apartment block at 10720 104 St.

The killing remains unsolved.

Janet said her nephew was widely known as a gang member and she worried that he would run into trouble living his high-risk lifestyle.

"I personally wasn't shocked when it happened, with his involvement in gangs," she said from Onion Lake, about 50 km north of Lloydminster.

"I had tried talking to him."

"I always thought something like this would happen if he didn't quit. Maybe he offended somebody? Who knows why gangs kill people."

Stick spent most of his time in Edmonton and Saskatoon.

"He told his mom he wouldn't be back for a very long time," said Janet.

Stick borrowed $60 for a bus ticket in the days before his death, and said he was heading to Saskatoon for a court appearance, said Janet.

Police told her they found a court order in the victim's pocket, she said.

Stick recently showed his aunt a freshly written resume and told her he was looking for a job. "He told his mom he wanted to go straight, to get out of gangs and stuff," said Janet.

The family heard about Stick's death through the news media. They had been under the assumption he was in Saskatoon, said Janet. She's not sure why he would have headed for Edmonton instead.

"This is a small community. Rumours were already going around, and we didn't know," she said.

It wasn't until noon Friday that police told her officially that Stick had been killed.

She volunteered to tell her sister Connie - Stick's mother - about the death.

A MOTHER'S ANGUISH

"How do you think a mother feels when she's told her oldest son is dead? She was crying ..." said Janet.

The victim had five younger siblings, age 10 and older.

He had two children of his own who live with an ex-girlfriend. "(His ex was asking) what happened. I couldn't answer her questions because I had my own questions that needed answering."

Police continue to investigate. They had not released notice of any charges by press time last night.

Rihanna releases statement regarding incident

In her first statement since she was allegedly attacked by Chris Brown, Rihanna thanked fans for their support but declined to address the accusations against her boyfriend, citing an ongoing police investigation.

"At the request of the authorities, Rihanna is not commenting about the incident involving Chris Brown," read a statement released by Rubenstein Associates. "She wants to assure her fans that she remains strong, is doing well, and deeply appreciates the outpouring of support she has received during this difficult time."

The statement was released hours after the entertainment gossip website TMZ released a photo that purportedly shows the battered face of the pop star, with bruises on her forehead, bloody lips and other marks on her face.

The Los Angeles Police Department announced it was investigating the leak shortly after the photos were posted Thursday evening. On Friday, Chief William Bratton said his department is conducting an internal investigation, but also a criminal conspiracy case that could result in up to three years in prison.

"It as an embarrassment to this department," Bratton said. He said the agency believes a department employee leaked the photo, and that the department is working to quickly complete separate investigations into Rihanna's beating and the photo's leak.

Brown, 19, is under investigation for an attack on a woman in the hours leading up to this month's Grammy awards in Los Angeles. A person familiar with the situation, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and requested anonymity, has confirmed that the woman was Rihanna, whose real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty.

Both stars were due to perform at the awards show, but subsequently dropped out; Brown surrendered to the authorities as the ceremony was underway.

Since the alleged attack, both stars have kept a low profile, but Brown did issue a statement of remorse last weekend, saying, in part: "Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired." The statement, which also said that he was seeking counselling from a pastor and family members, he did not mention Rihanna.

Friday marked Rihanna's 21st birthday. The platinum-selling singer canceled a planned birthday bash in New York and postponed concerts overseas in the days following the incident.

In related news, TMZ inside sources spilled the numbers that Levin’s minions are believed to have shelled out quite a fair amount for pictures taken of Rihanna immediately after the alleged Chris Brown attack. The source of the photo leak, a law enforcement insider close to the investigation, reportedly raked in $62.5k (US), double the salary of the person suspected of leaking the pic. Sources state TMZ pays a relative or friend of the snitch within 24 hours of receipt of a photo to cover their tracks.

Woman nabbed for injecting contaminated water into daughter's IV drip

A 35-year-old woman from Gifu Prefecture was arrested Wednesday for allegedly attempting to kill her 1-year-old daughter by adding contaminated water to the intravenous drip the child was being administered at Kyoto (Japan) University Hospital in Kyoto, police said.

While the suspect has denied her intention to kill the girl, the hospital has said this could be a case of Munchausen by proxy, a form of child abuse in which the mother intentionally sickens her child through medication and other methods, according to the police.

"I can nurse (my child) if she becomes ill. I did not do it with a view to causing her death, " the woman was quoted as telling the police.

According to investigations, the woman used a syringe to inject contaminated water into an intravenous drip hooked up to her fifth daughter at the hospital's intensive care unit between Monday and Tuesday.

Her daughter, who is 1 year and 10 month old, could have died due to blood poisoning, but her condition is improving following treatment.

The woman's second, third, and fourth daughters all died of illness by the age 4.

The fifth daughter was transferred to Kyoto University Hospital early December from a Gifu hospital. Her condition was worsening due to blood poisoning, and tests detected the presence of the fungus candida albicans, which is not normally found in the bloodstream.

Suspecting child abuse, the hospital consulted the police and checked on the woman's movements. They found she had mixed a sports drink with water and waited until the liquid went bad before using it in the case, according to police. She also possessed a syringe, they added