26 Jul 2013

Trio found guilty of tax evasion

10:27 pm on 26 July 2013

Three men including a tax specialist have been found guilty in the Wellington High Court of tax evasion totalling $1.6 million.

Brent Gilchrist, Scott Anderson and Paul O'Connor have been convicted on some charges of filing tax returns based on false invoices, but acquitted on others.

Inland Revenue says former employee Gilchrist promoted the tax evasion scheme to O'Connor, while Anderson pretended to produce an accounting software package for O'Connor's company Media Search Limited.

Anderson was found guilty of amending invoices for the software.

Gilchrist was acquitted of charges related to Media Search's $1.5 million tax evasion, but found guilty on six charges related to another company involving just over $57,000 in tax evasion.

Justice France said the men provided amended versions of invoices, knowing they were intended to mislead Inland Revenue.

The Inland Revenue's group tax counsel, Graham Tubb, told Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint programme on Friday the men went to significant lengths to conceal the fraud.