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A Melbourne man who marketed himself as an accountant and property developer has been sentenced to just under seven years in jail for attempting to claim nearly half a million dollars in GST refunds.
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Over 6 years’ jail time for accountant imposter
18 September 2019
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The County Court of Victoria has sentenced Allan Dalton from Glen Waverly to six years and nine months in jail for tax fraud.
Mr Dalton was brought on as a property developer and accountant by the directors of Greenhills Grange Pty Ltd (Greenhills) to assist with the completion of the first phase of a project to build 12 residential town houses.
The project had run into financial difficulties and Mr Dalton convinced the directors that he had extensive experience in property development and accounting and would be able to get the project back on track.
However, Mr Dalton had no prior experience in the property development industry or as an accountant, and instead sought the services of an external accountant to lodge business activity statements on behalf of Greenhills.
Between March 2010 and June 2011, 16 false activity statements were lodged on behalf of Greenhills, with Mr Dalton overstating the expenditure of Greenhills to obtain $479,714.84 in GST refunds. During this period, Greenhills was only entitled to $52,500 in GST refunds.
The refund was subsequently transferred to Mr Dalton’s personal bank account and other bank accounts for which Mr Dalton was a signatory.
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The court has ordered Mr Dalton to repay the full amount he illegally obtained.
Mr Dalton was convicted of knowingly providing false information to his accountant to commit tax fraud for his own personal financial gain.
ATO acting Assistant Commissioner David Mendoza welcomed the sentence handed down and said it was commensurate with the seriousness of Mr Dalton’s crimes.
“Mr Dalton deliberately engaged with an external accountant and knowingly provided false information to him to obtain a personal financial advantage,” Mr Mendoza said.
“As this case demonstrates, if you provide false information to your adviser, you are breaking the law. We will hold you accountable and you will be pursued through the criminal judicial system.”
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