An Auckland man has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for a large-scale fraud against Inland Revenue.
Nicholas Ngwun pleaded guilty to 10 charges covering an array of tax and COVID fraud, as well as 2 charges for perjury and fabricating evidence.
The offending
Over almost 2 years, Ngwun submitted 121 fraudulent documents to Inland Revenue to try to get more than $2 million. He received only $251,035.74.
Ngwun purchased people’s personal information from online ‘dark web’ marketplaces. These included usernames and passwords to a variety of services and organisations such as myIR, Sky TV, Facebook, Gmail, Linkedin, Netflix, Realme, and various telecommunications services and banks.
Ngwun also purchased lists of credit card information from these same marketplaces. Using the information he obtained, Ngwun logged in to the myIR accounts of innocent individuals and businesses, then submitted fraudulent documents in their names.
These fraudulent documents ranged from COVID support applications (for Small Business Cashflow Scheme (SBCS) loans and Resurgence Support Payments), through to GST and Income Tax returns and amendments. At least 59 myIR accounts were compromised and used by Ngwun.
Forged documents
From there, Ngwun used electronic templates to forge fake drivers licences, community services cards, and service and utilities letters, then used those to set up bank accounts in the names of fictional people.
In 4 cases, Ngwun stole the identities of real people and set up accounts in their names.
Any money from the fraudulent documentation submitted to Inland Revenue would then be directed into those bank accounts.
Once received, Ngwun distributed the money between himself and his family members.
Perjury and fabricating evidence
Ngwun had been originally scheduled for sentencing on 20 January 2026. Days before sentencing, he provided a sworn affidavit stating that he had graduated a rehabilitation programme for drug and addiction issues.
He provided a certificate of completion along with the affidavit, supposedly signed by staff of the rehabilitation centre.
However, Ngwun had only attended one module of the rehabilitation programme. After he failed to turn up again, he was discharged. The certificate of completion he provided to the Court was a fabrication.
Ngwun had filed the affidavit and certificate of completion in an attempt to gain a discount to his sentencing for the tax and COVID fraud offending. Inland Revenue discovered they were counterfeit while undertaking routine checks.
New Frontier of digital offending
With the rising popularity of AI and other digital tools for manipulating documentation, Inland Revenue’s Information Security leader, Jay Harris, says “Ngwun’s offending represents the new frontier of digital offending.
“Inland Revenue’s systems mean we can detect this sort of fraud, and IR is well prepared to combat attempts to defraud the tax system.
“Our systems prevented the vast majority of Ngwun’s attempts to obtain payments from us. We were also assisted by the banks and other organisations to help identify him.
“Inland Revenue will not hesitate to take action against fraudsters like Ngwun,” Jay Harris says.
Inland Revenue has already prosecuted 15 people for fraud involving the Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme, the Covid Support Payment, and Resurgence Support Payment.
17 cases are progressing through the court system, and investigations are on-going around other COVID-19 support fraud cases.
Increased funding for compliance means IR can do more audits and debt collection work, and investigations into specific sectors can continue.