On January 23, 2012 the National Post published an article entitled “Judge OKs suit against charity tax ‘scheme’” by Joseph Brean which discusses a class action lawsuit against various parties relating to the “Donations for Canada Gift Program”.
Here is the link to the article:
http://www.nationalpost.com/Judge+suit+against+charity+scheme/6035815/story.html
The articles notes:
An Ontario Superior Court judge has certified a massive class-action lawsuit over a “scheme” in which thousands of Canadians submitted inflated charitable donation receipts the taxman refused to accept.
“When Michael Cannon heard about the Donations for Canada Gift Program – an opportunity to obtain a $10,000 charitable tax credit in return for a $2,500 donation – he thought it was too good to be true,” wrote Mr. Justice George Strathy.
“It was. A few years later, his tax returns were reassessed by Canada Revenue Agency and he had to repay his deductions, with interest. The only thing he received for his ‘donation’ was a tax bill.”
All allegations have yet to be proven and at some point there will be a trial in the matter.
[Update] Here is another article:
“Charity gift program subject of suit” http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/54148-charity-gift-program-subject-suit