The two directors of an Auckland cleaning company have been sentenced to community detention and ordered to pay reparations for GST fraud committed over many years.
Bimlesh Vishal Sharma and Prashita Narayan faced a representative charge of using a document with intent to obtain a pecuniary advantage. They claimed $189,051.84 in GST refunds when financial records showed the company should have paid GST of $25,224.20.
When interviewed, they stated that they were under financial pressure and had been advised by family and friends they could make money out of Inland Revenue by filing incorrect GST returns and that nobody would know.
They acknowledged that they knew what they were doing was wrong and they knew one day they would be in trouble.
They entered a guilty plea to the charge and were sentenced on 16 November in the Manukau District Court. The pair have repaid most of the money they received fraudulently.
Sharma and Narayan were sentenced to 6 months community detention, ordered to pay full reparations at $50 each per week, and were also ordered to do community work.