A Tauranga company director has been sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment after being found guilty of more than 30 tax evasion and fraud charges.
John David Pongi, 46, was sentenced in Tauranga District Court today on 11 charges of GST evasion, 18 charges of failing to account and two charges of tax evasion involving about $244,000.
Pongi began trading as Quality Hort Ltd in 2006 but did not register the company with Inland Revenue for GST or PAYE, Inland Revenue investigations manager Jonathan Matthews said.
"Although Mr Pongi employed a number of employees to carry out work in the kiwifruit industry, he did not keep records about his staff or details of wages paid, and he consistently failed to file PAYE returns between April 2006 and January 2008.''
- NZPA
