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Auckland property consultant and former chartered accountant Lawrence David Eade was sentenced to two and half years in prison for evading tax in excess of $200,000.
The Auckland District Court found him guilty on 14 charges of tax evasion and one charge of failing to register for GST.
IRD Assurance (Investigations) manager Richard Philp said the offending took place between April 2004 and March 2006.
“Mr Eade failed to file 2005 and 2006 income tax returns and the amount evaded was $177,087.99. He also failed to file 12 GST returns, the estimated value of which was $62,355.06,” he said.
It is understood that the defendant had neither paid the outstanding tax amount nor filed his returns.
“He had appeared in court earlier. One of his companies was prosecuted in March 2001 for failing to file tax returns,” Mr Philp said.
The second case involved Paraparaumu property developer Gary Adrian Koornneef, who was found guilty on eight charges of tax evasion, totalling more than $200,000.
The Wellington District Court sentenced him to 12 months home detention.
Mr Philp said that the defendant had sold eight properties between September 2002 and September 2005 but failed to pay GST.
“Koornneef is the sole director of Advantage Construction and Consultancy Limited, which bought a property in Aro Valley, Wellington in June 2001. The property was subdivided, three townhouses were built and subsequently sold, but the company did not include the sales in its GST returns,” he said.
The court heard that Advantage bought a property in Strathmore, Wellington in July 2002 and carried out another subdivision. Five properties were sold but Advantage did not pay the GST to IRD. In four of the cases, no returns were filed, and in the fifth case, Advantage filed a false “Nil” return.
“Mr Koornneef told our department that he was aware of his GST obligations and admitted using the money to repay debts.
The total GST evaded was $233,500.01. The court ordered him to repay this amount to IRD,” Mr Philp said.
“IRD and the courts take a very dim view when people fail to fulfil their tax obligations. Taxes help pay for important services like schools and hospitals,” he said.
Source :
Indian NewsLink - Auckland, New Zealand,
dated 13/07/2009
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