An Auckland man has been sentenced to community detention for tax fraud after he applied for Covid-19 relief money under the names of two people who had left the country in 2013 and 2017.
Vaibhav Kaushik was charged with using a document to claim a pecuniary advantage — more than $23,000 —and was sentenced in the Auckland District Court on February 13.
The Government announced a new small business cash flow loan scheme to support businesses adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
There were several criteria, including that the business be viable and ongoing and the loan must be used for the business and not given to the shareholders or owners for personal use. Applications opened from May 12, 2020.
Kaushik applied for a loan under another person’s name in July 2020 which was paid into a bank account listing that person as the account holder. However, Immigration records showed the person with that name left New Zealand seven years earlier and had not returned.
An investigation by the Inland Revenue Department found Kaushik had set up the other person’s myIR account, filed an income tax under their name, and then made the application.
“Enquiries established that the IP address used to file the income tax return and the loan application online was linked to Kaushik’s home,” an Inland Revenue spokesperson said.
A similar process was then followed with a different man’s name who was found to have left the country in 2017.
“An associate in India was also involved in both cases.”
Kauskik benefitted financially from the payout and used the $23,600 for personal items and gambling.
The sentencing judge said the offending had “elements of greed” and declined the defence lawyer’s application for discharge without conviction.
Kaushik was sentenced to six months community detention — the maximum allowed — and the judge ordered reparation to be paid in full by April 1, 2025.
