Patrick John Renshaw, a disgraced former lawyer who previously served time in jail for his part in defrauding clients of Upper Hutt law firm Renshaw Edwards, was today sentenced to 10 months' home detention for company tax offences.
The Lower Hutt tax adviser was sentenced in the Wellington District Court after having earlier pleaded guilty to 42 tax charges involving non-payment of PAYE deductions and filing false GST and income tax returns, amounting to more than $345,000, the Inland Revenue Department said in a statement. He was ordered to pay reparations of $13,000 in installments and a lump sum of $2,500.
Renshaw devised a complex web of transactions involving multiple entities that were a calculated attempt to defraud the tax system, said Inland Revenue's group manager of investigations and advice Patrick Goggin.
"These actions were dishonest and a fraud on not only Inland Revenue, and therefore the community, but also the affected employees, who should be able to expect that tax deductions from their wages are dealt with lawfully," Goggin said. "The offending is even more egregious, due to the position of trust held by Renshaw as a tax agent."
