Polygamy, human trafficking and child abuse accusations never stuck, but the leader of a polygamous community in westernmost Canada has been found guilty of tax fraud.
In a ruling released Thursday a Canadian tax court said Winston Blackmore, leader of a community in Bountiful, British Columbia that practices a fundamentalist form of Mormonism, was guilty of underreporting his income by more than Can$1.68 million ($1.6 million).
His tax trial last year offered an unprecedented look at life inside the community, which has been the subject of several investigations for polygamy, child abuse and child bride trafficking over the past decade.
In addition to back taxes, he was ordered to pay a Can$148,983 fine for gross negligence in preparing his tax returns.
The case centered around an obscure section of Canada’s tax code originally designed to allow Hutterite colonies to divvy up income among members of the community for tax purposes.
Blackmore argued that it should be applied to his group.
But Judge Diane Campbell ruled that the Bountiful community did not meet the definition of “congregation” under the act, which requires that individuals not own property and that they live and work communally.
Even if Blackmore had been succesful in meeting the test, Campbell said he failed to indicate who would qualify as members of the congregation, which broke into two rival sects after infighting and saw members quit amid abuse allegations.
Blackmore could not be reached for comment.
At one point Blackmore told the court he had 21 wives and had fathered 67 children. A day later, he said he forget one of his wives in the tally.
Blackmore described a tight-knit group that grows, raises or hunts its own food, and runs a barter economy.
Blackmore and another man, James Oler, were previously charged with polygamy in 2009 but the case was thrown out.
That led to a review of Canada’s law against polygamy, which is still ongoing.
Canadian polygamist found guilty of tax fraud
