Accountant fraudster gets 2-1/2 years jail

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An Auckland accountant has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after being found guilty of 74 tax evasion and fraud charges.

James Colin Raea was sentenced in the Auckland District Court today, having admitted 57 charges laid by Inland Revenue.

He defended a further 17 charges and was found guilty on these as well.

The charges related to his personal tax affairs, as well as those of three companies he was associated with: Tuscany Way Limited, Anvil Holdings Limited, and Te Atatu Projects Limited.

These three companies owned Inland Revenue $860,000, in addition to his personal debt of more than $300,000.

Of this, Inland Revenue has recovered $280,000.

The offending included filing false or misleading GST returns, and failing to file GST and income tax returns from property sales.

Raea was an accountant for 10 years and a member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants for 12 years.

Inland Revenue investigations manager Jonathan Matthews said today's sentence showed the courts took a dim view of professionals like Raea, who had a duty to uphold the integrity of the tax system.

-NZPA