Accountant jail time

Accountant jail time 

Accountant jail time 

A Sydney accountant has been convicted and sentenced for his role in advising a client on how to hide funds offshore with entities in Hong Kong and Switzerland, resulting in $4.5 million in tax being avoided.

He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment to be released forthwith upon entering recognizance of $4,000 without security with a condition to be of good behaviour for 2 years.

Australian Crime Commission (ACC) acting Executive Director Operations, Charlie Carver, said that hiding income by moving it offshore is a serious criminal offence: “Accountants and lawyers who help clients evade their tax responsibility by using complicated, deceptive schemes such as this one, will be investigated and prosecuted.”

ATO Deputy Commissioner, Michael Cranston, also said this sentence sends a clear warning to those who are in positions of trust and decide to facilitate others to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

Note: While the Project Wickenby Taskforce has formally ended, some prosecutions are still underway, and the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce, established 1 July 2015, will “build on the good work” undertaken during Project Wickenby.

Ref: Joint media release by the ACC and ATO (and other bodies), 30 October 2015

NTAA, ‘The Tax advisers’ Voice’ Edition No.254

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