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Tax refund frauds admitted
A 27-year-old man has pleaded guilty to 51 charges of fraud involving false tax return claims, and the Inland Revenue Department has two weeks to decide whether it will pursue further charges.
Jay Hart, also known as Jason Leslie Douch, had no fixed abode when he was arrested last year for offending in Nelson and Christchurch during 2010.
At the time of his first appearance in Christchurch District Court he was charged with 84 offences alleging claims totalling $433,277 and losses to the department of $332,530.
He has remained in custody since then, and now he has pleaded guilty to 51 of the charges at a pre-trial conference where Judge Raoul Neave remanded him in custody to November 29 for a Crown sentencing.
The judge asked for a pre-sentence report but no report on Hart’s suitability for home detention. Nor has a reparation report been ordered, since Hart has little or no ability to pay.
It is not known how much money is involved in the charges that Hart has finally admitted. No detailed account of that offending had been completed, but it will be collated in time for his sentencing.
Judge Neave said the Inland Revenue Department had until another pre-trial conference on August 24 to decide whether to proceed on further charges.
The charges alleged that Hart fraudulently claimed income tax refunds in false names, sometimes acting alone and sometimes with three co-offenders.
The other offenders have now all pleaded guilty and been dealt with. Two received sentences of home detention, and one got community work as well, and the third was jailed for a year.
