CBC story on Hindu Mission of Mississauga and CRA letters to charity imposing penalty

The CBC just ran a story entitled “Hindu temple faces fine over tsunami donations”.  It discusses a recent fine imposed by CRA on the charity.  According to the lawyer for the charity the matter will be appealed so it will be interesting to see the result.

Here is a link to the CBC story:

Hindu temple faces fine over tsunami donations
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/06/04/toronto-hindu-cra.html

Here are the CRA letters to Hindu Mission of Mississauga and compliance agreement.

CRA notes in its letter:

“On the basis ofour audit, we have concluded that the Hindu Mission of Mississauga (the Mission) provided funding in the amount of$281,483 to non-qualified donees outside Canada, including $84,604 to the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) in Sri Lanka, an organization that formed part ofthe support network for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTIE), a listed entity under the Criminal Code ofCanada, and $196,879 to the North and East Community Development Organization (NECDO), an organization we believe was affiliated with, and supported the projects of, the TRO. The Mission also issued donation receipts on behalf ofan unregistered organization in Sri Lanka in the amount of$5,050. The extenuating circumstances of the tsunami disaster and the fact that the payments in question appeared to have been outside the normal operations of the Mission were taken into account when we proposed the penalty and Compliance Agreement in lieu of proceeding with revocation action. The signing of the Compliance Agreement establishes that the Mission certifies that its resources will not be used to provide financial or any other means of support for the LTIE or the goal.ofTamil independence or the creation of a Tamil state.”