A former Canada Revenue Agency employee has pleaded guilty to taxpayer fraud while appearing in Vancouver provincial court Wednesday. Yoan Zola wore a black suit and sat next to his lawyer Michael Shapray. Zola was arrested in January after a nearly four-year investigation by the RCMP’s Federal Policing Pacific Region. Among the charges to which he pleaded guilty were breach of trust by accessing information of two people at the CRA, trafficking in identity information and defrauding the bank of less than $5,000. The case was launched in March 2022, following a complaint from the CRA that an employee had “compromised taxpayer information,” the RCMP said in a news release. Members of the RCMP’s Sensitive Investigations Unit arrested Zola in Vancouver on Jan. 29. At the time, authorities said the 35-year-old had been charged with identity theft, fraud under $5,000, fraudulent personation, trafficking in identity information, breach of trust and using a credit card obtained by crime. The RCMP has not shared any further details on the alleged breach of taxpayer information but said all “victims impacted by this matter have been informed.” “As this investigation is now before the courts, no further details will be provided,” the RCMP said. A CRA spokesperson confirmed Zola is no longer with the agency but did not respond to questions about when his employment ended, or how. “Any allegations or suspicions of employee misconduct are taken seriously and are promptly and thoroughly investigated. When wrongdoing or misconduct is founded, appropriate measures are taken,” the spokesperson told CTV News in an email. Maintaining the public’s trust is “of the utmost importance” to the CRA, the spokesperson added, and there are measures in place to “ensure the highest standard of employee conduct is upheld.” Zola is pleading guilty voluntarily, forgoing his right to a trial. He will have a case management hearing on Friday to decide when he will be in court for a one-day sentencing hearing. With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Andrew Weichel
