The Auckland District Court sentenced an international student to five months home detention on October 20, for being involved in a GST fraud scheme.
Bing Liu pleaded guilty to 15 charges amounting to $44,350. The Court ordered him to pay $30,000 in reparation in four instalments while in detention.
The Court heard that he was involved in a scheme to obtain money from Inland Revenue Department (IRD) using companies that did not exist.
Investigation Manager (Assurance) Jonathan Matthews said that the defendant was on a student visa and that he had listed himself as a director in 10 companies registered with the Companies Office.
Liu received GST refunds for the 10 companies, paid into bank accounts that he had set up and was the sole signatory.
IRD investigations found that the only transactions in the accounts were refund cheques and funds withdrawals. There was no other business activity recorded.
“He created fictitious sales and expenses for each of the companies and then filed GST returns from an internet café. This was calculated to avoid detection. Liu knew that what he was doing was wrong,” Mr Matthews said.
“This was a case of deliberate planning designed to cheat the tax system,” he said.
