A former Canadian lawyer is being sued for $ 68 million in the United States for his involvement in a fraud scheme through offshore shell companies.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Fred Sharp is expected to pay US $ 24 million in penalties, US $ 21.8 million in restitution and US $ 7.2 million in interest, according to a CBC investigation.
Main Canadian intermediary abroad in the Panama Papers leak, Sharp is presented as the mastermind of a fraud network that has been in operation for a decade, specifies the CBC network.
US authorities maintain that Sharp has set up a network of more than 1,100 offshore shell companies to allow its clients to evade the tax authorities.
The former Vancouver lawyer suspended from the bar in 1995 has not challenged the civil lawsuits against him.
The U.S. court has yet to rule on the federal agency’s petition, as Sharp and two other Canadians face criminal charges.
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