- The ATO continues to pursue GST fraudsters, with four individuals recently sentenced under Operation Protego.
- The ATO is committed to investigating and holding offenders accountable for GST fraud.
- ATO Deputy Commissioner John Ford emphasized the agency’s advanced fraud detection and prevention capabilities.
- Some of the sentenced individuals were former ATO employees or contractors.
- Kim Orense received an 18-month sentence for dealing in proceeds of crime, with 10 months to be served.
- Abigail Ussher received a 12-month sentence for similar offenses, with 5 months to be served.
- Both Orense and Ussher were involved in lodging false business activity statements to receive fraudulent GST refunds.
- Former ATO employee Menuwarage Ranasinghe was also sentenced, details of which were not fully provided.
Source: newshub.medianet.com.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.
