What is the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce
Most people comply with their tax obligations. However, there are a small number of people who deliberately do the wrong thing. The ATO-led SFCT was established to respond to this, targeting the more serious financial crimes in Australia.
The case studies on this page reinforce that those who deliberately cheat the system will be held to account.
Stay up to date on the latest SFCT outcomes by subscribing to general email updates. Subscribers will receive updates on all new general content on our website, including the latest SFCT case studies.
Woman sentenced for false claims and forged documents
On 1 October 2024, Ashmita Sharma appeared before the Downing Centre Local Court in NSW for sentence.
Ms Sharma received 2 18-month suspended sentences, to be served concurrently. She pleaded guilty to committing GST fraud, JobKeeper fraud and attempting to pervert the course of justice, contrary to sections 134.2(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth) and 43(1) of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) respectively.
Ms Sharma was also ordered to be of good behaviour for 3 years and repay the remaining $26,426 in stolen funds to us.
In August 2020, Ms Sharma lodged:
- a false COVID-19 JobKeeper application on behalf of a dormant company that listed her father as the sole director, without his knowledge or authorisation
- 3 separate business activity statements
- a false claim for a Cashflow Boost Stimulus which was taken into account on sentence.
In total, Ms Sharma received $30,926 as a result of the offending.
During the course of the matter, Ms Sharma was also charged with one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice by forging a medical certificate to avoid attending court.
Operation Hyacinth is part of a broader investigation by the SFCT into the misuse of government funds. Our message is clear; those who think they can steal and cheat the system for their own financial gain will be caught. Attempting to avoid these consequences can make the situation worse.
This SFCT matter was prosecuted by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) (CDPP) following a referral from the ATO.
To report any known or suspected illegal behaviour you can either complete the tip-off form or phone us on our tip-off hotline on 1800 060 062.
Find out more about the Serious Financial Crime Taskforce.
Jail time takes the shine off gold bullion fraud
Attempts to commit gold bullion fraud didn’t have the outcome 2 fraudsters had planned.
The investigation, conducted under the ATO-led SFCT, revealed that Cedric Adrian Millner and Jonatan Kelu purchased GST-free gold bullion, refashioned it into scrap and then sold it inclusive of GST to a refiner. Millner and Kelu claimed GST input tax credits by falsely stating that the GST-free gold bullion was purchased inclusive of GST under the GST second-hand rules.
The reward for engaging in this complex $40 million fraud activity was a sentence of 8 years in jail for both men, handed down in the Supreme Court of NSW.
These criminals thought their actions would go undetected, but our expert team of investigators uncovered the fraud and worked to solve the case, bringing together thousands of documents and multiple data sets to form a solid brief that would ultimately be their downfall.
Operation Nosean was established to look at network participants in the gold bullion and precious metals industry. This included refiners, bullion dealers, gold kiosks, dealers and buyers within established supply chains involved in gold recycling arrangements, seeking to exploit the GST rules in relation to precious metals.
New laws were introduced in April 2017 to combat fraud in the gold bullion and precious metals industry.
Our message is clear to those who seek to evade or cheat the tax system: there is no place for you to hide and we will not tolerate this behaviour.
For more information see:
- Reverse charge in the valuable metals industry
- SFCT intelligence bulletin (PDF, 119KB)This link will download a file
- From gold bars to iron bars
Second sentencing for Australia's largest tax fraud case
On 29 March 2018, Michael Issakidis faced the Supreme Court of NSW for his involvement in the largest prosecuted tax fraud case in Australia’s history.
Alongside his co-conspirator Anthony Dickson, Issakidis deliberately absorbed $450 million of otherwise assessable income. He did this using complex domestic and international trust and tax evasion structures. This caused a loss to the Commonwealth of $135 million. By creating a web of false identities and siphoning money offshore, the pair acquired approximately $63 million.
Issakidis was sentenced to 10 years and 3 months jail for his involvement in the operation. This followed the 2015 sentencing of Dickson, whose original 11-year sentence was increased to 14 years on appeal.
The significant penalties handed down to both Issakidis and Dickson demonstrate the success of the SFCT in dealing with those who deliberately cheat the system. As a member of the SFCT, we are equipped with the resources, data-matching capability and international and domestic intelligence-sharing relationships to uncover even the most complex tax evasion schemes.
People who deliberately avoid paying the correct amount of tax will be caught and will face the full force of the law.
For more information see:
- Operation Elbrus
- Serious Financial Crime Taskforce
- Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement
- Making a tip-off – how to confidentially report tax crime to us.