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Joint ATO-AFP taskforce results in prison for fake BAS lodgements and the first jail term for alleged members of an international crime syndicate.
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Two jailed for separate multi-million dollar tax fraud schemes
03 April 2023
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Two men received jail terms late last week for their roles in two separate multi-million dollar schemes to defraud the ATO.
A NSW man was sentenced to one year and 10 months imprisonment for more than $3 million in tax fraud while a Canberra man was jailed for his role in a $13 million fraud involving international crime gangs.
The Kingston man, 43, who received $136,535 for his part in the $13 million fraud, was sentenced to two and a half years’ imprisonment in NSW District Court on Friday while a further 12 face charges over the scheme.
The Serious Financial Crime Taskforce – which brings together the ATO and the AFP – said the syndicate was siphoning money from companies it controlled that should have been paid as tax.
The companies were involved with labour hire and payroll for the construction industry and the proceeds of that criminal activity were allegedly funnelled into bank accounts controlled by syndicate members and their associates.
The joint investigation began in December 2018 as a result of intelligence from other organised crime investigations. The principals of the syndicate were identified and in July 2020, and the AFP raided locations in NSW, Queensland and the ACT.
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In November last year the Kingston man pleaded guilty to aiding, abetting, counselling, or procuring the conduct of another person to commit an offence of dishonestly causing a loss to the Commonwealth.
ATO Deputy Commissioner and SFCT Chief John Ford said the sentence was a warning to other financial criminals.
“This outcome sends a clear message to those who think they can get away with financial crime,” he said. “The SFCT has a dedicated team of experts across multiple agencies – we will find you, and hold you to account.”
The other offender, a 39-year-old man from Guildford NSW, pleaded guilty to two counts of dealing in the proceeds of crime last October in the wake of a SFCT investigation into fraudulent BAS refunds lodged by multiple companies.
Further enquiries revealed the bank account details associated with those companies had been changed to ones controlled by the man, who was arrested and charged in March 2021.
The Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce obtained restraining orders under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 over multiple bank accounts and a luxury vehicle with a combined value of about $2.73 million.
He was sentenced last Friday in Parramatta District Court.
AFP Detective Superintendent Kristie Cressy said the AFP took a collaborative approach to stamping out fraud against the Commonwealth.
“The ATO-led Serious Financial Crime Taskforce is a joint partnership, that allows us to leverage our combined forces and skills to identify and stamp out criminal behaviour,” Superintendent Cressy said.
“This is not a victimless crime, the money stolen was meant for legitimate businesses and the loss of these funds has flow-on effects for everyone in the community.”
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