CALGARY – The former chief financial officer of Lake Louise Ski Resort was sentenced to a year in jail and fined $106,000 for not paying taxes on money he embezzled from the popular ski resort in Banff National Park.
Derek Kwasney, 54, was sentenced Nov. 12 in Calgary Court of Justice after a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) investigation found he had misappropriated funds from the ski resort in 2015 and 2016 of more than $350,000. He served as the ski resort’s CFO from 2008-16.
Dan Markham, communications director for Lake Louise Ski Resort, said the organization was happy with the decision.
“Lake Louise [Ski Resort] is satisfied with both the court's and CRA's decisions on the matter and choose not to comment further,” he said in an email. “The resort has moved on and is looking forward to a great season."
Kwasney had pleaded guilty on Sept. 26, 2024, to evading paying taxes by not properly indicating his taxable income on his T1 individual tax return, according to a release from CRA.
The release from the federal agency noted that in addition to a fine and jail sentence, Kwasney will also have to pay the entire amount of tax owing as well as interest and any other penalties issued by the CRA.
“Tax evasion is a crime. Falsifying records and claims, wilfully not reporting income, or inflating expenses can lead to criminal charges, prosecution, court imposed fines, jail time, and a criminal record,” stated the CRA release.
On June 9, 2022, Kwasney temporarily had his registration with Chartered Professional Accountants of Alberta suspended by the chair of the complaints inquiry committee.
The Outlook reached out to CPA Alberta and will update the story when it receives a response.
According to Kwasney’s LinkedIn, he’s the principal of Beacon Consulting Group and previously worked in finance for several tourism-based companies in Calgary, Golden, B.C. and Waterton.