ATO Sentences Four in Ongoing GST Fraud Crackdown Under Operation Protego

• ATO continues to pursue GST fraudsters with four more individuals sentenced under Operation Protego.
• Recent actions highlight ATO’s commitment to investigating and holding offenders accountable.
• ATO Deputy Commissioner John Ford emphasizes advanced fraud detection capabilities.
• Sentenced individuals include former ATO employees and contractors.
• ATO expects staff to maintain high integrity; violators are dismissed.
• Kim Orense sentenced to 18 months for fraudulent GST refunds totaling $214,011.
• Abigail Ussher sentenced to 12 months for fraudulent GST refunds totaling $117,297.
• Both Orense and Ussher transferred funds to personal accounts and associates.
• Investigations revealed no legitimate business activities for claimed refunds.

Source: ato.gov.au

Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.

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