Repeat offender back in jail for GST fraud

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A recidivist fraudster has been jailed for four years for GST fraud.

Ian Nigel Clarke was sentenced in the Auckland District Court today after being found guilty on 89 charges related to fraudulent GST claims, involving $302,131.

Clarke's sentence was appropriate given the deliberate and calculated nature of his offending and his previous history. Inland Revenue investigations manager assurance, Jonathan Matthews said

"This is a man who'd previously been convicted as an accountant and jailed for cheating tax clients out of money. Then he came back again to try to cheat the tax system and get his hands on public money," Matthews said.

When it became aware of the offences Inland Revenue seized $228,770 from bank accounts and investments Clarke controlled.

"Clarke is someone who thinks he is entitled to help himself to money that should go to services like schools and roads, and this sentence shows just how seriously Inland Revenue and the courts view that kind of offending."

In November 2004, Clarke and another man set up Impact Financial Services Ltd, which operated as a tax agency, Inland Revenue said.

Prior to that, Clarke operated a tax agency through a company named Tonbridge Consulting Ltd, Inland Revenue said.

Clarke completed and filed a number of GST returns of behalf of clients of Impact claiming refunds for entities with no taxable activity, Inland Revenue said.

Claims were also filed for properties purportedly used for commercial purposes, which in fact were used for residential purposes. Other claims were for the purchase of motor vehicles, the payment of management fees and other expenditure, but they were false.

- NZPA