2009 media releases
Man jailed for GST fraud
17 June 2009
A Mt Maunganui man who used wage records from his mother’s former company to falsely register people for GST has been sentenced to 18 months jail.
Timothy Andrew Penniket was sentenced today in the Tauranga District Court after admitting 58 charges of tax evasion.
Inland Revenue Manager Investigations, Assurance, Richard Philp, said the sentencing sends a strong message that tax cheats will be caught and face serious consequences.
"People trying to rip off the system like this for their own personal gain are essentially stealing from the community."
"They’re taking money that should be going to hospitals, schools and other public services," said Mr Philp.
In October 2007, Penniket used wage records obtained from a company his mother had run to register 14 of the former employees for GST via the internet without their knowledge.
As part of the GST registration process, Penniket also changed their postal details to his PO Box number and requested that any refunds be direct credited into either his bank account, or a bank account belonging to an associate.
He submitted 32 GST returns and the money was paid into the accounts Penniket had nominated.
Inland Revenue began looking into those claims in December 2007, and also began investigating further claims Penniket submitted two months later.
$16,127 of the GST refunds was recovered from bank accounts by Inland Revenue, and reparation of $6,501 was also made by an associate of Penniket when he was sentenced earlier by the court.
In sentencing Penniket, the judge also ordered him to make $16,387 in reparation for money that was paid into his account but not recovered.
For further information:
Catherine Delore
(04) 890 1743
(029) 890 1743
catherine.delore@ird.govt.nz
Other media releases this year
- Structured finance cases settled
- Inland Revenue warns of party plan pitfalls
- Tax fraudster breached worker trust
- High wealth individuals pay an extra $81 million
- Residential rental property and depreciable items
- Lower Hutt man sentenced for tax evasion
- Two jailed for multi-million dollar tax fraud
- High Court ruling on Westpac case
- Christchurch man jailed for GST fraud
- Tsunami donations tax credits
- Former Queenstown man jailed on tax evasion charges
- Jail for $5 million tax fraud
- Tiler jailed for $1.6 million tax evasion
- Online service makes tax refunds easier
- Inland Revenue welcomes High Court decision
- Auckland property consultant jailed for tax fraud
- Te Kuiti accountant jailed for 12 months for tax evasion
- Property developer sentenced for GST fraud
- Wellington man sentenced for tax fraud
- Helping you get it right
- Last day for tax returns fast approaching
- Auckland man sentenced on GST fraud charges
- GST fraudster convicted again
- New Plymouth woman jailed for fraud
- Christchurch man sentenced on tax offences
- Extradited tax fraudster sentenced to home detention
- Jail for multimillion dollar tax fraud
- Thousands of people eligible for unclaimed millions
- Inland Revenue appeals High Court decision
- Inland Revenue considers voluntary redundancies
- Talk to us, says Commissioner of Inland Revenue
- Apply now for the provisional tax ratio option
- Keep IRD numbers confidential
- Wellington accountant sentenced on tax fraud charges
- Avoid unexpected GST bills on apartment sales
- Nelson man jailed for tax evasion
- Stay informed about KiwiSaver changes
- Tax payment date fast approaching
- 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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New Zealand
Date published: 17 Jun 2009
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