An Abbotsford man who helped scam the federal government out of almost $3 million was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court Friday to two years less a day in jail.

Paramjit Singh Gill, 55, pleaded guilty in May 2009 to three charges of fraud over $5,000.

Crown and defence worked out a plea deal in exchange for Gill's testimony against co-accused Sikander Singh Bath and Manjit Singh Khangura.

From 1995 to 1997, Gill was involved in an elaborate scheme to defraud the government. Crown alleges 20 sham companies were created or acquired and received more than $23 million in refunds for GST input tax credits. The companies claimed to have made large exports of lumber, shake and shingle products when, in reality, they did not do any real business.

Gill was asked to become involved as a director of three companies when he was a mill worker in Castlegar. The promise of a salary, a house and a car lured him to the Lower Mainland. He was later offered a cut of the profits, which Gill claims amounted to $400,000, about $130,000 of which he had to pay back to his bosses.

Defence lawyer Martin Peters described Gill as "a strongman, a gofer, or both." Gill picked up mail, made bank transactions and did a number of other tasks to help the three men in charge.

At the beginning Gill didn't know that the businesses, which received $2.9 million in returns, were a scam.

"He basically put it together himself after a while," Peters said. However, he didn't make his client out to be a "dupe" because Gill continued to participate after finding out about the fraud.

Crown prosecutor David Greenbank said that the joint sentence recommendation of two years less a day took in both aggravating and mitigating factors, including the large sum of money stolen, the low chance of recovering the funds, Gill's cooperation with investigators and the Crown and his lack of criminal record.

Greenbank had suggested a $200,000 fine, but Peters argued that Gill has no ability to pay and asked Justice Geoffrey Gaul to impose no fine. A fine was not part of Gill's sentence.

In December, Bath and Khangura were found guilty of six counts and three counts of fraud over $5,000, respectively, totalling $11 million in refunds. They each faced 20 fraud charges and two charges of money laundering. They are scheduled to appear in court next on Feb. 28.

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