Research & Legal Action

Vivian Krause is organizing this fundraiser.

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Dear friends,

Its been a while!

A few years ago, we used GoFundMe to raise funds for a short film, Over a Barrel. I’m ready to do another film, Monkey Business, that picks up where Over a Barrel left off. But first, I need to deal with some legal action against me.

To cover my research costs and legal fees, I need help. That’s why I have started this GoFundMe.

Here’s a summary:

About 7 years ago, I stumbled across some tell-tale signs of a tax scam, a big one.

Sad to say, what I found is that some of the largest "charitable gifts" in Canadian history were not true gifts. Put plainly, these gifts are phoney, a sham.

Most of the phoney "gifts" that I have found were part of circular, self-cancelling transactions that enabled the so-called donor to get a huge tax receipt without actually making a real, true gift. In some cases, the phoney "gift" was used to pay a phoney "debt" to a related party. In other cases, a tax receipt was issued far in excess of fair market value.

Phoney gifts that I have found are for $15 million, $23 million, $30 million, $45 million, $70 million and $74 million and many more “gifts” for smaller amounts.

In 2018, The Globe & Mail reported on some of this, front page (link below).

In the spring of 2019, I testified about this to the House of Commons Finance Committee.

During COVID, I wrote to detailed letters to CRA, requesting audits of the charities involved.

Since last year, CRA has finally revoked 19 charities handled by a retired, tax lawyer who is at the centre of this. Dan Fumano reported on this for The Vancouver Sun (link below).

The questionable “gifts” for $23 million and $74 million were to Fortius Foundation which built and owned a sports centre in Burnaby, B.C.

In 2020, Fortius Foundation announced that "pandemic pressures" forced the sale of its sports centre to the City of Burnaby. When I heard this, I was shocked. How could they have been in any financial trouble having received $74 million just two years earlier?

I obtained financial statements for Fortius and found that, in fact, by 2017, long before COVID, Fortius already had a "debt" of $94 million. So no, it wasn't COVID that put Fortius in trouble.

In 2021, I wrote letters to the City of Burnaby, urging a pause before paying $26 million to Fortius in cold hard cash. At the very least, I urged the City to do more due diligence. What I didn't know then is that Fortius was under CRA audit - and had been for four years already.

On September 1, 2021, Fortius’ founder filed a defamation claim against me. That very same week, CRA sent a letter to Fortius saying that its charitable status would be revoked - but I didn't find out that until two years later.

Fast forward to this year, and CRA has now officially revoked Fortius Foundation for what CRA called “egregious" violations of the law. According to CRA, Fortius provided “undue benefits” to a for-profit business owned by the founder of Fortius Foundation. Salaries at the business were paid by the foundation and the sports centre was effectively provided to his business on a 'rent-free' basis for six years in a row. CRA’s audit report warns that Fortius could be assessed penalties for nearly $13 million.

Fortius applied to both the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Both courts dismissed the matter.

The legal action against me is without merit, nevertheless, this baseless claim casts doubt on my competence and my credibility. In addition to the claim against me, the same parties sent to letter to the legal department of at least one major media outlet, threatening legal action. This caused a major television network to spike the TV coverage that it had been working on for months.

In May of 2022, under the Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation Act (“SLAPP”), I filed a motion for dismissal. Discovery hearings have been held. Court is scheduled for December 7 & 8.

In addition to dealing with this litigation, I am also working to bring about changes so that when tax receipts are issued for huge amounts, the gift is true.

Never again should one of the largest “charitable gifts” in Canada be a sham.

Friends, I’m at the point now where I need help. Of the $30,000 that I need to raise, approximately $5,000 is for the costs of database subscriptions, title searches, etc. and $25,000 is for legal fees, including costs associated with the court hearing in December and the prep for that.

These funds will be managed by me, Vivian Krause, but will not go personally to me. The funds will be used to cover research & legal costs.

If you are able to contribute to help me cover my research costs and legal fees, that would be very much appreciated.

Once I get this litigation behind me, it will be time for another film, "Monkey Business," which will pick up where Over a Barrel left off.

If you can chip in, that would be very much appreciated!

Sincere thanks,

Vivian

More at my website: https://lnkd.in/gmPmAXak

Further info:

The Globe & Mail, October 2018: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-charity-network-helped-wealthy-donors-get-big-tax-breaks/

Testimony to the House of Commons Finance Committee, 2019:

https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/FINA/Evidence/EV10469324/FINAEV209-E.PDF

Letters to CRA, 2021 & 2022: https://fairquestions.typepad.com/rethink_campaigns/2021/03/cra-submission-bromley-charities.html