The former vice-president of a Toronto church caught up in a multimillion-dollar charity fundraising scheme has been criminally charged by police.
George Babiolakis, 52, of Unionville was a senior official at the All Saints Greek Orthodox Church in north Toronto.
The church, which typically issued $7,000 in charitable receipts each year, hooked up with a tax-shelter company and over a recent five-year period issued $273 million in tax receipts.
The firm encouraged people to make donations for relief efforts and in return would issue tax receipts for a greater value. Three thousand people donated; many have had their tax credits cancelled.
A probe by the Toronto Star in April showed the scheme was discovered when a new board of directors took over at All Saints. Babiolakis left office last December.
The board complained to police in the summer.
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