A bankrupted Northland man was not prepared to pay his fair share of tax but had no qualms receiving benefits from the government, a judge commented while sentencing the man to home detention.
Thomas Joseph Brown, 57, appeared in the Whangarei District Court for sentencing after pleading guilty part-way through his trial last month to charges of evading assessment or payment of income tax and GST. A court order prevented the Northern Advocate from publishing the fact he had pleaded guilty at the time.
Three others - Timothy Meredith, 46, Carol Karl, 51, Andrew Karl, 43 - were found guilty by a jury on similar charges. All are members of a group which utilises a Maori sovereignty element to resist the Inland Revenue Department. The scheme consists of a bank account in the name of Nga Uri Tupoto Incorporation through which income generated by the four is washed and no tax is paid by them or the incorporation.
Their income was deposited in the incorporation's account before the funds are transferred to their respective bank accounts by electronic transfer or cash.
In Brown's case, deposits of $325,450 were made into the incorporation's bank account between October 2010 and April 2011. The source of the money was identified as Stargate Corporation, a manufacturer of party pills. Further analysis of the incorporation's bank account indicated withdrawals of $235,000 were made over the same period and deposited into an ANZ Bank account called Aetherika Ahu Whenua Trust.
