Missing B.C. man the latest identified in CBC’s tax haven investigation

The latest person in a massive offshore secret bank account leak has been named and it is now time to shame him. If we can find him, anyway.

CBC News released the identity of another Canadian caught up in an international investigation into the questionable use of offshore bank accounts – he’s a B.C. drywaller who disappeared under suspicious circumstances shortly after setting up the accounts.

And his ex-wife in none too pleased about what the new revelation could suggest.

The information is the second announcement to come out of a cache of information obtained in an international investigation into secret, but not illegal, accounts in known tax havens such as the Cook Islands. The details were obtained by Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and shared with CBC.

CBC News reported that 450 Canadians were identified as part of the investigation. In April, the network announced that Tony Merchant, a high-profile lawyer married to Saskatchewan Senator Pana Merchant, had $1.7 million stashed in offshore accounts while locked in a battle with the Canada Revenue Agency.

When prompted to release the details obtained in the investigation, CBC News said they would not share the remaining names, electing to release newsworthy information over a period of time.

How very Wikileaks of them.

[ Related: Revenue minister commits $30M to find tax evaders ]

A note from CBC editor Jennifer McGuire said the network was “mindful of the reality that holding an offshore account is not evidence of wrongdoing and may not be controversial. So we are not simply reproducing the raw information we have received through the consortium.”

Yet here we are, faced with another story on someone whose only apparent crime was the non-criminal act of setting up a tax shelter. Does this pass muster as a story of public interest?

On Thursday, CBC News announced that B.C. native Greg Cyr set up offshore companies and bank accounts before he disappeared in 2003 in what appeared to be an underworld murder.

The network reported that Cyr disappeared after going to meet who police said were "underworld connections." His ex-wife, Miriam Byrne, now wants police to reopen an investigation into his disappearance. The inference being that, perhaps the fact that he had money stashed offshore sheds new light on his disappearance.

“What's frustrating for me is it took years … years to put a picture together," Byrne told the network. "If we would have had this… I'm speechless."

This is an interesting revelation that hints at a Hollywood-esque whodunit. It could go a long way toward finding a man who abandoned his responsibilities as a father and ex-husband. Or not. Possibly he really is just dead.

[ More Brew: Senator’s husband stashed $1.7M in offshore account: report ]

People didn't flinch when details about Merchant were released. Considering the network's allegation that his senator wife had improperly failed to mention the accounts it seemed to be of public interest.

Frankly, the story about Cyr's disappearance gets me going as well. It has hints of underworld double-crossing. Now that the information is finally public, it could prompt a police investigation.

But eventually CBC's cache is going to run out of story-worthy information. There are 448 more Canadians on their list. They can't all be breadcrumbs appropriate for feeding to public crows.

The Canada Revenue Agency wants that list and is making big moves to crack down on tax evaders. How many more crumbs can CBC drop before the government eats the rest of the loaf?

(Photo courtesy of the Vancouver Police Department)

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