A 38-year-old fraud syndicate member who conspired to defraud the Commonwealth of more than $5 million through Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds, has been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 3 years after facing the Melbourne County Court.
The scheme was concocted to illegally obtain personal identifying information. This information was then used to create false entities and register them for GST. Business activity statements (BAS) were then lodged to claim false GST refunds, which were directed to bank accounts that had been created using the stolen identities.
Source: ATO
