Melbourne man sentenced to jail for attempting to defraud the ATO

A Wheelers Hill man was recently sentenced to three years and six months imprisonment for defrauding the ATO of nearly $35,000 and attempting to defraud the ATO of a further $458,000, following a joint investigation by the Australian Federal Police (‘AFP’) and ATO’s serious financial crime taskforce.

The investigation began in June 2020, after the ATO linked the man to a number of suspicious claims, including 40 fraudulent applications for JobKeeper.

The sentence is “a warning to criminals who seek to exploit and steal from the Commonwealth and by extension, Australian taxpayers”.