A now bankrupt former Wellington tax agent was sentenced to home detention when he appeared in Court this week on four representative charges related to COVID support offending.
As well as the charges laid by Inland Revenue (IR), Harold Hyde also faced charges related to $90,000 worth of offending against the Ministry of Social Development (MSD).
The IR charges involved the COVID relief schemes administered by the department – the Small Business Cashflow Scheme (SBCS), COVID Support Payment (CSP), and Resurgence Support Payment (RSP).
Hyde also used forged bank statements for himself, his mother and Flourishing NZ as part of his applications.
For the offending against both IR and MSD, Hyde was sentenced to 10 months home detention.
Hyde had previously acted as a tax agent. Following a meeting with Inland Revenue in August 2023, he voluntarily removed himself from that role.
The three COVID-19 support schemes were implemented under urgency using a “High Trust” application model to ensure businesses could access funds to support their business in a timely fashion.
Hyde applied for RSPs and CSPs claiming his business met the scheme’s criteria in that it was viable and ongoing, and that there had been a decline in revenue.
Hyde applied for $50,600 but received $13,700. He put the money in his personal bank account and spent it on himself.
Hyde submitted 18 fraudulent bank statements to Inland Revenue, presenting them as authentic documents in support of his COVID-related applications.
IR obtained the original bank statements which showed the statement’s Hyde provided were forged.
Inland Revenue sought reparation of $13,700.00 but the Judge declined to order it because Hyde had limited means and is an undischarged bankrupt. The Court was told, however, that Hyde had repaid most of the money he received from MSD.