Palmerston North man Cameron Jesse King has been sentenced to 22 months in prison for filing multiple false tax refund claims in the names of other people.
King, who is also known as Kamrin Jay Gasilos, was sentenced yesterday in Palmerston North District Court on one representative charge of dishonestly using a document.
Over a three-year period from August 2012 until July 2015, he filed multiple false personal tax summaries (PTS) to Inland Revenue through its online services. The returns were on behalf of 36 other people who had either given King their personal tax information or he had obtained it without their knowledge.
Patrick Goggin, Inland Revenue’s Group Manager Investigations and Advice, said King had repeatedly and systematically cheated the tax system by filing false returns to generate fictitious refunds for his personal use.
“This offender was really quite devious, in some cases using the identities of others without their knowledge,” Mr Goggin said.
“However, once our investigators became alerted to the scam, it was quickly determined that the details filed for these people were implausible.”
The taxpayers were largely unaware King was providing false information to create a tax refund.
The returns King filed claimed tax refunds of just under $195,000 over the three-year period, but only $93,688 was paid out. King was also ordered to pay $15,000 in reparation.