2009 media releases
Jail for multimillion dollar tax fraud
7 May 2009
A multimillion dollar tax fraud has led to six and a half years jail for a Hawkes Bay agricultural contractor.
Rajpal Singh Dhillon was sentenced in the Napier District Court today after last month being found guilty on 50 charges of tax evasion involving PAYE and GST.
The PAYE evaded is estimated to have been $2,011,000, while the GST evaded was assessed at $1,300,000.
In the past five years, 32 people, including Dhillon, have been convicted for fraud in the agricultural industry involving $26.5 million.
Inland Revenue Investigations Manager, Richard Philp, says Dhillon was involved in the same kind of scheme as others who have been prosecuted.
"This is a significant sentence and sends a strong message to others that Inland Revenue is aware of the illegal behaviour that’s been going on in this industry and that we are determined to clean it up."
"The many honest contractors in the industry should not be disadvantaged by those who are trying to cheat the system and get away with fraud involving millions of dollars of taxpayer money," said Mr Philp.
"The cases we’ve prosecuted show that we are monitoring the industry closely and cheats will be caught and dealt with."
Dhillon, through three companies he was involved in, used 25 false sub-contracting companies from 1998 to 2007 to mask his liability for PAYE and GST. He lost a lot of money in a failed apple exporting business and none of the tax evaded has been recovered.
The schemes uncovered follow a similar pattern involving the creation of false invoices, which are used to reduce the liability for GST and PAYE.
Inland Revenue is also seeking to have a residential property, held in a trust controlled by Dhillon, forfeited under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
For further information:
Catherine Delore
(04) 890 1743
(029) 890 1743
catherine.delore@ird.govt.nz
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- Lower Hutt man sentenced for tax evasion
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- High Court ruling on Westpac case
- Christchurch man jailed for GST fraud
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- Inland Revenue welcomes High Court decision
- Auckland property consultant jailed for tax fraud
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- Christchurch man sentenced on tax offences
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- Former tax agent employee sentenced for fraud
Corporate Affairs
Inland Revenue
To make a media query:
Phone 04 890 1698 or email mediaqueries@ird.govt.nz
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P O Box 2198
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New Zealand
Date published: 07 May 2009
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