A Northland woman was sentenced to home detention for trying to get GST refunds her company was not entitled to.
Following a judge alone trial, Helen Fuataha was found guilty on seven counts of knowingly providing false, misleading, or incomplete information to Inland Revenue intending to get GST refunds for her company which she knew it wasn’t entitled to.
In February 2016, Fuataha set up Only1 Company Limited and registered it for GST claiming it was a call centre operation and plasterboard stopping company. She was the sole director and shareholder of the company.
The seven charges were filed in relation to Goods and Services Tax (GST) returns filed by Fuataha between March 2016 and March 2017.
During that period, Fuataha filed seven GST returns for the company claiming a total of $861,154.06 in GST refunds. There was no evidence of any sales or income for the company during that period. The last of those returns sought a refund of $750,000.
Fuataha claimed that last return was an error, should have been $75,000 and was the result of poor internet connection while on a trip to Ethiopia.
Judge Tremewan said that wasn’t a simple matter of an additional number at the end of a careless filing but an established a modus operandi, filing false returns to try to get a windfall to which Fuataha was clearly not entitled.
Her Honour said there was damning digital evidence to show what Fuataha was doing and even the $75,000 figure had no connection with the reality of her situation.
Her Honour said the Court was left with the overall impression that Fuataha did not have a business that was a going concern and that Fuataha knew all along that the company wasn’t entitled to GST refunds.
Ms Fuataha was sentenced to 10 months’ home detention when she appeared in the Waitakere District Court on 3 September. She was also sentenced complete 150 hours community work.