A former Australian Taxation Office (ATO) contractor who sought to channel taxpayers’ superannuation guarantee entitlements into his own self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) has been sentenced to five years jail.
The ATO announced today that the Melbourne man, Stephen Anthony Bell, had been convicted in the ACT Supreme Court on charges including 16 counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception, 11 counts of money laundering and one charge of unauthorised access to computer data with intent to commit a serious offence.
The court was told that Bell had established three self-managed superannuation funds and illegally accessed ATO systems to obtain superannuation guarantee information from a number of taxpayers. He then submitted fraudulent forms on behalf of these taxpayers so that their super guarantee entitlements were paid into his own SMSFs.
It was alleged that cheques to the value of almost $80,000 were issued, with $377,415 being cashed through overseas accounts.
Taxpayers whose details were used by Bell to commit the fraud had their entitlements returned, while properties in Melbourne and Canberra have been restrained under proceeds of crime legislation to recover the money.
