(Montreal) A former leader of a swingers’ club in Montreal was recently sentenced to one year in prison for tax evasion. Jean-Paul Labaye and his company will have to pay a hefty fine of $1.4 million. The prosecution demanded two years of detention.
The 63-year-old is known for fighting all the way to the Supreme Court in the early 2000s to defend the legality of his swinger bar L’Orage. At the time, Jean-Paul Labaye had been criminally convicted of keeping a bawdy house for the practice of acts of indecency. The Supreme Court, however, overturned the guilty verdict.
Jean-Paul Labaye found himself in court again in 2020, this time for not paying his business taxes for years. He also avoided collecting and remitting hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales taxes to tax authorities. Jean-Paul Labaye and his company Circle reciprocal have thus admitted their guilt on several counts related to provincial and federal tax laws.
Judge Érick Vanchestein of the Court of Quebec sentenced the accused to one year in prison on April 25 at the Montreal courthouse. The prosecutor claimed two years in prison, while the defense claimed 90 days in prison on weekends.
The judge points out that Jean-Paul Labaye did not fabricate documents or false reports as part of his fraud.
“However, this negligence, masked under the cover of an “administrative phobia”, rather demonstrates willful blindness on the part of the defendant, which in itself constitutes a form of premeditation since in this type of situation, one maintains hope. to fly under the radar wishing no one would realize the absence of contributions of any form to the state,” says Justice Vanchestein.
In imposing the sentence, the judge recognizes that Jean-Paul Labaye took control and took accounting and legal steps to correct the situation. He sold his business in 2022, but continues to act as a consultant to the new owners.
Me Daniel Gougeon represented Revenu Québec, while Mr.e Anthony El-Haddad defended the accused.