A man who had gone missing 10 years ago in Vancouver has recently been found as having owned offshore accounts. His disappearance has been suspected as being linked to his former criminal activities. The name of Greg Cyr popped up in a recent leak of massive financial data, revealing the names of people who have offshore financial accounts, including the names of hundreds of Canadians. Among other names listed is that of Tony Merchant, a lawyer and the husband of Canadian senator Pana Merchant, a liberal from the province of Saskatchewan.
Greg Cyr bought a property in Victoria, British Columbia with an estimated value of $1.5 million. His former wife, Miriam Byrne, believed the property was owned by Greg’s employer until it was revealed in the leak of financial data to actually be his own. The offshore account linked Greg Cyr to a company called Sentinel Holdings that was used to buy the house on Victoria’s Beach Drive.
The man was born Brent Thurston but changed his name to Greg Cyr. There is an outstanding warrant for his arrest on charges of narcotics possession, dating back to 1988. Greg Cyr worked as a drywaller but he has also been involved in the import of tiles and wood. At certain times in his life he has also been involved with the hell’s angels and he divorced his wife as a result of confessing to the act of transporting marijuana from British Columbia to Whitehorse in Yukon Territories.
Offshore accounts are not illegal however it is illegal not to declare income to the Canadian Revenue Agency. One of the main reasons individuals setup these accounts in the first place is to keep the account private so as not to have their income declared to the Canadian Revenue Agency and in that sense they have committed a crime. Although the Canadian Revenue Agency is reported to have received the names of thousands of Canadians who have offshore accounts, no convictions have been reported either. Not many drywallers have offshore accounts. Most drywallers and Canadians in general are honest, hardworking citizens who report their income and pay their taxes. His former wife is currently on a quest to find out the real cause of his disappearance, in the hopes of getting closure on this particular case.
