KEY POINTS:
A man who arrived in Te Puke on a student visa to study horticulture used his industry knowledge to swindle the taxman out of nearly $700,000.
Orchardist Gurpreet Singh, 25, pleaded guilty to 97 charges of tax evasion when he appeared in the Tauranga District Court.
The maximum penalty for each charge is five years' imprisonment.
Singh arrived in New Zealand in September 2002 on a temporary immigration permit, and when it expired in 2003 he initially became an overstayer.
After filing several appeals, Singh was granted a student permit last October to study horticulture.
But in October 2005, he became involved in a tax evasion scheme prevalent in the industry. He obtained a false driver's licence and used bogus identities to set up horticultural companies so he could issue false invoices for work completed by other contractors.
Payment was then returned to the contractor who completed the work and Singh was paid a fee for providing this service.
In September 2005, Singh, using an overseas driver's licence, applied for a New Zealand one under a false name, and on October 3 applied for an IRD number using that identity.
He also formed two companies using the bogus name.
Both companies were able to obtain IRD numbers but despite earning $872,781 for the financial year ended March 31, 2007, no income tax returns were filed, and no tax was paid.
In November 2006, Inland Revenue became aware of Singh's activities and investigated further.
Investigators matched his handwriting on various invoices and discovered he had received large deposits into his personal bank accounts.
Inquiries revealed $271,287 had been deposited between November 2006 and January last year.
The source of the deposits came from pack houses and other orchard income, yet no tax returns were filed by the company named on the invoices.
Then, last September, Inland Revenue was told that Singh was using a driver's licence in another name to cash cheques for yet another company.
When he was arrested on January 31 an invoice book in that company's name and the false driver's licence were found in his car.
Inland Revenue said Singh had issued invoices and cashed cheques totalling at least $3.4 million.
The amount of tax evaded through the different entities involved in his fraud had totalled $683,604.
Judge Louis Bidois told Singh on Tuesday that he deserved significant credit for pleading guilty to all charges before the trial, and whatever co-operation he gave IRD would also be reflected in his sentence.
Singh was remanded in custody for sentencing on May 29.
- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES
