From: AlanBaggett@volcanomail.com   
      
   Nanaimo family awarded nearly $1.7M after legal battle with the Canada Revenue   
   Agency :CRA SOTW   
      
   By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff    
      
   NANAIMO — After years of hardships, a lengthy legal battle and having their   
   names dragged through the mud, a Nanaimo family has triumphed in a legal   
   battle against the Canada Revenue Agency.   
      
   In a B.C. Supreme Court decision published on March 2 by the Honourable   
   Justice Robert Punnett, Tony and Helen Samaroo, who own the MGM restaurant, a   
   night club and also a hotel, were awarded nearly $1.7 million.   
      
   It's revealed in the 90-page ruling the Samaroo's were “wrongfully and   
   maliciously persecuted” by the Canada Revenue Agency during a lengthy court   
   case.   
      
   The Samaroo's were charged with 21 counts of tax evasion in 2008, accused of   
   not properly representing the MGM Restaurant's earnings from their graveyard   
   shift and skimming $50,000 a month for themselves.   
      
   However, they were acquitted of all charges on April 6, 2011. During the   
   19-day trial, the judge heard how the earnings from the graveyard shift were   
   simply rolled into the earnings from their night shift, since such a small   
   amount of money was made    
   during those hours.   
      
   The Samaroo's filed their lawsuit against the CRA and lawyers involved on   
   March 29, 2012.   
      
   Justice Punnett said the case against them was insufficient and the CRA   
   “initiated the prosecution...when it was wrongful to do so.   
      
   “The manner in which the prosecution was initiated and carried out was   
   egregious. It must be denounced. CRA employees looked forward with   
   unprofessional glee to the plaintiffs' anticipated conviction and sentencing   
   and their resulting ruination. It is    
   appalling that the incarceration of the plaintiffs would be joked about.”   
      
   Even though they were acquitted, the family claimed the damage was already   
   done.   
      
   Helen and Tony Samaroo “became very quiet and depressed.” The verdict said   
   the family's name was publicly disparaged and could never recover. Their   
   daughter allegedly stopped using their last name because of the shame   
   associated with the charges.   
      
   Regular customers at the MGM stopped coming and never returned once they were   
   acquitted.   
      
   Helen Samaroo testified “others now looked at her differently and she felt   
   embarrassed to go to the restaurant and visit her customers,” and the   
   charges had a “profound effect on their family life and their house ceased   
   being a hub of family life    
   and became quiet.”   
      
   Tony Samaroo said he “lost his spirit and his strength. He spends his days   
   watching TV and no longer socializes. He is drinking and smoking more.”   
      
   The couple is no longer together.   
      
   In total, Helen and Tony Samaroo were awarded nearly $350,000 for legal fees,   
   $300,000 each for aggravated damages and $750,000 for punitive damages.   
       
   info@nanaimonewsnow.com   
      
      
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