Crown’s closing arguments heard in tax fraud trial N. Shore residents face charges in complex $40M tax credit case A SIX-MONTH-long $40 million income tax fraud triai of ; several: North Shore residents is winding down in the B.C. “Supreme Court in Vancouver. ’ ° After spending 96 days in court, ‘with only Fridays, Easter, and a six-week ‘summer recess off, and viewing over 2,000 court exhibit - ., documents, the jury heard closing arguments from the: Crown this “week, soy Richard Lawrence, a West * "Vancouver lawyer, and Michael ” Richards, a North Vancouver ac- -countant, are charged with eight counts of fraud. Ronald Johnson, “.@> Richmond . businessman, and ~. Gerald Byerlay, a_ self-professed Chilliwack engineer, are alleged to “be co-conspirators. a : An ‘international: warrant ' has been issued for Michael Vaz,-a West | Varicouver man, in-connec- tion with the case. ° Crown’ special prosecutor Leslie“ Mackoff contends the group con- pired . to commit: frauds ‘in 1984 and’ 1985: under the former ‘Scien- tific);Research'..Tax. Credit . pro- i program; now defunct, was tablished to. promote investment . echnology. research and devel- ) meni, but has a haunting. legacy jury: was, ‘told: the group ac- ‘taxi credits, later, sold. to ajar: corporations, : after certify- vestments in’.a myriad. of projects, including: fly-ash’, recoy- ry; biomass conversion‘and hydro _ peti ‘oli eum conversion. © Mackoff::claims the documents “testimony: show , the’ invest- money: was aon-cxistent, the defraud was evident : auditors... By Brent Mudry Contributing Writer from the outset. “Mir, Johnson was the principal of Johnson and’ Burdett who, with ‘a $2,000 net worth in March of 1984, was able to obtain $36 mil- lion worth of equipment with no money down and pass along that same marvellous form of financ- ing to Mr. Wilder,”’ Mackoff told the jury. Bellingham residents Dara and Seona Wilder: also stand charged - in the case. On Monday, Mr. Justice Ran- dall Sun-kue Wong gave a directed’. verdict on ‘the charge covering what is referred to as the ‘High Technology Jewelry Project. The judge accepted the defence’s. claim of insufficient evi- dence... The. jury subsequently acquitted all of the accused on that one count. o “The jewelry project required | _only two . certificates, from. an outside... accounting firm and The remaining seven counts ‘required three different certificates, from the company’s officer, scientist,’’ the judge explained. ' The: jury. was. given’ Friday ‘off to allow a juror. to attend to a ~ family medical appointment. Wong’s charge to the jury is ex- pected. to be given Tuesday, before jury deliberations begin, 2} an accountant: and a> Trans Canada Hwy - Westview Drivet City of North Vancouver PROPOSED TRUCK ROUTES Legend 24 Hour Routes Dai ime Routes om san coe ae (7:00am-9:00pm) ' Truck Areas Lonsdale Avenue Grand Boulevard East , £ Keith Road NEWS graphic Jacquie Johnson TRUCKS ACCOUNT for only about 2% of traffic on most North Shore roads. Low Level Road's truck traffic is 6% of its total vehicle volume, the highest | local percentage. Final report on truck route | study expected later in aly From page 4 “It?s very steep here, so you're ‘talking about running trucks either up or down and they can’t stop,” Mike Goodsell said. ‘ “The trucks will be using their engine brakes going down, or gearing down to. climb up the hill. It will be noise, especially at night. “It makes sense to keep them on a mainly industrial rovte.”’ Lonsdale Citizens: Association spokesman Jim Ramsay believes . that.a 24-hour route designation for Lonsdale Avenue runs counter to the spirit of the city’s, Lonsdale ANOTHER NORTH, Vancouver. @lementary. school’s s estimated $750: fire ‘damage ° oe ver ture. playground has been hit- by arson. - The; ‘Saturday; Sept. 18, fire ollows. similar: incidents ‘in’ July ~ “which two: playgrounds were | “torched... elsewhere © in “North Vancouver. 2 >: ‘The: latest arson “ occurred at eymour-. Heights elementary, * 2640 - Carnation®: St.;" in. : the , Blueridge area. , A“ North Vancouver ” District Fire Services spokesman said the : blaze was likely set early in the “imorming. The fire smouldered ail By Anna Marie D° Arigelo News Reporter. night, destroying the structure. Meanwhile in July, arsonists torched similar structures in two Lynn Valley school yards within -a week. : The adventure playground at Lynn Valley elementary, 3250 Mountain Hwy., sustained an Do you favor a minority or majority fed government? CALL US: oes 2208 Marjorie MacKiver | ‘North Vancouver Uthink the ideal world would have a- majority federal government that listens to the views of the people who put them in power. July 21. Fromme elementary’s | adven- ture playground, 3657 Fromme.. _-Rd.,' received. approximately - $2,000" damage ' during an arson’ :, fire on July 14. North Vancouver. District 44 School Board buildings. and . grounds ‘director’ Bob Wilson - said adventure playgrounds can cost up to $20,000. . Wilson said most adventure - playgrounds in the schoo! district are funded through the efforts of volunteer parent groups. TI. West Vancouver All this talk of gridlock in Parlia- ment if we elect a minority gov- ernment jis just a tactic by the conservative government {to scare us. ; We would like to know what you think! ‘Call in with your response by ' Wednesday 5 p.m. Town Centre revitalization efforts. “As far'as I’m concerned, at ' the very least, the portion below | ‘33th Street should be restricted to prevent night traffic. on it. But there is a. basic problem the city, has to face. “I don’t think they can have a. ‘pedestrian-friendly street and a major traffic arterial. The‘ city is going to have to make’a ‘choice here,’’ Ramsay said. But. city. traffic technician . Mierau points out that trucks ac- count for a small percentage of the vehicular traffic volumes North Vancouver City residents . must live with daily. Said Mierau, ‘‘All the roads that we've routes are major .arterial roads. identified: as truck 64 All the roads that we ve identi ifie ed as” truck routes. are major arterial roads. ” = Traffic technician Lon Mioreu o They’re the ones that are already | ” carrying, almost alt.of the truck. traffic already. “You have to remember that on ; these roads, trucks are only one or.” 2% of traffic.” For the purposes: of the study, trucks are defined as vehicles over 9,900: Ibs. (4,500 :kg) in gross vehicle’ weight. or | vehicles with more than two axles. Traffic volume data gathered by - the city shows, for example, that: -@ Low Level Road: carries ap- proximately 33,400 cars ‘and 2,140 trucks (6% of volume) in a 24- hour period; @ Higher up the hill. on 29th Street, a major-arterial road car- ties ‘about 7,000 cars and 110 trucks (1.6% of volume) daily; @ Grand Boulevard, proposed as a day-only truck. route, carries Mrs, Jenkins North Vancouver Minority, majority, does it really matter? Until’ politicians realize . they are the voters’ agents, not their ‘parties’ (agents), will gov- ernment. respond to the needs of the average Canadian? 12, 200 cars and. 130 trucks. (1. 1% of volume) each day.” A final’ report ‘on “the truck’. route study will be ‘presented to council Jater,this year. .° - Mierau ‘said . staff technicians will also be. looking. at ways’ to curtail the impact of. increasing‘ traffic loads in general throughout the city. “TI think it’s something you will \ see more and more of, when ‘the quality of life is. going’ down and: you’re looking at controlling | traf- fic through neighborhoods. © .. ‘We'll be looking at traffic. . calming devices, ‘circles, chokers, » that kind ‘of thing to reduce the speed. and volume of traffic and encourage the use of arterials,”” he said. TO SERVE the voting community of the North Shore better, the North Shore News’ coverage of the campaign leading up to the Oct. 25 federal élection will focus on your opinions and concerns. Starting today, Your Call will appear in every issue, asking you questions relating to the elec- tion. You can only cast one vote, but you can express. yourself everyday: by dialling 983- 2208. Patrick Smyth : North Vancouver We need a majority government to give us strong, decisive leadership in these globally - changing times. -A: minority government would bring chaos to our country. THIS WEEK’S QUESTION: _ Do you favor a minority or majority federal gov't?