Former Adelaide tax officer Todd Ryan and his then girlfriend Amy Hill found guilty of scamming hundreds of thousands of dollars in GST rebates

Todd Ryan looked like a success. Well dressed and ambitious he swept his girlfriend off her feet, only to get her involved in a $330,000 government scam.

Todd Ryan and former girlfriend Amy Hill were both found guilty of scamming hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Commonwealth Government. Artwork/The Advertiser.

Flash cars, flash toys and flash suits … “company boss” Todd Ryan lived life to the fullest.

Fancy eateries and exotic getaways were part and parcel of his lifestyle with his then-girlfriend Amy Hill.

But in reality, Ryan, 45, was drowning in debt.

As he faced the prospect of the bank repossessing his house, Ryan decided to use his knowledge as an Australian Tax Office worker with specialist knowledge of GST and superannuation, to rort hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Federal Government.

The funds kept his high-flying lifestyle going a little bit longer, but in the end it all came crashing down, landing him and Hill in the dock of the District Court. Both now face the prospect of years behind bars.

Todd Ryan, who was found guilty of deceiving the Commonwealth Government out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a GST scam.

The couple were found guilty of claiming that their companies had purchased millions of dollars of goods and services – and that they were entitled to GST rebates.

Court documents show Ryan scammed $330,235 and attempted to rip off another $75,685.

Hill was charged with being part of the scheme to illegally obtain $136,861.

The pair met in 2011 when Hill was a 27-year-old single mother. Within months, lovestruck Ryan had moved in. In an email sent to Hill and tendered during the trial, Ryan referred to his apartment as an “expensive wardrobe” as he was spending all his time with her.

“It might be a bit silly but I’m at your place every night and I’m paying $500 a week just to store my clothes,” he wrote.

Ryan, whose post-tax income in those years was a modest $43,000 a year, knew how to wine and dine.

“He had a nice car and he always had nice things to wear and he certainly appeared to be quite successful,” Hill said in her evidence.

Todd Ryan, who was found guilty of deceiving the Commonwealth Government out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in a GST scam.

“I was certainly head over heels. He seemed to spoil me with taking me to dinner, to nice restaurants and we went away a bit.”

Among Ryan’s belongings were archive boxes full of papers relating to companies he had started over the years.

“He worked very hard; he was working most nights and during the day when he wasn’t at the ATO. He was very confident,” Hill said.

“I know he had five companies in his name and he had them, from what I know, a few years and appeared very successful and certainly very knowledgeable and very educated.”

Behind the scenes, Ryan was running into trouble with his employer and was sinking financially.

He made a hardship claim to get his tax return early in 2010 when the banks were circling to repossess a house he owned in Burra.

The ATO raised concerns over the number of companies registered in his name.

With names such as Burra Mining, White Bull Investments, Financial Investment Fund, Platinum Hedge and Australasian Media Holdings, the companies exuded an air of validity. But in reality, not a lot of business was happening.

Todd Ryan and Amy Hill who were found guilty of scamming hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Commonwealth Government while still a couple.

Ryan boasted that White Bull granted investors access to “$1 trillion of shares and commodities”. The ATO warned him that 10 companies was the limit, but not content with that, he asked Hill to become signatory for four more companies.

Hill admitted in court that she was aware the creation of the companies was happening in her name because Ryan had been forbidden from starting new ventures.

But she also said she thought it would be easy to transfer the companies when the time came.

Ryan spent hours at night preparing the documents for the companies.

In the early hours of December 16, 2011, four business-activity statements were filed between 2am and 3am. Among those statements was a GST claim for $98,000, a figure which would have required $896,500 in purchases.

The jury heard that Ryan possibly recognised his error in making such a large claim and called the ATO a few days later to discuss the lodgement. His elusive answers on the phone sent alarm bells ringing.

Handwritten notes tendered during the ATO tax fraud case of Todd Ryan and Amy Hill.

Handwritten notes tendered during the ATO tax fraud case of Todd Ryan and Amy Hill.

In February 2012, Ryan was fired from the ATO and at 7.45am on March 7, 2012, Federal Police raided the home he shared with Hill.

“It’s OK, I’ll fix it,” Ryan messaged Hill that day.

He didn’t and, instead, Ryan was charged with 13 counts of seeking to obtain a financial advantage and two counts of attempting to obtain an advantage. Hill was charged with five counts of obtaining an advantage.

In his closing address in court, Christopher Allen, for Ryan, said his client “didn’t know what he was doing”.

“The documents that he produced to the ATO, I suggest, are incomplete, some in part are plagiarised, they are confusing, they are irrelevant,” he said.

“Is this somebody who knows what he is doing?”

Handwritten notes tendered during the ATO tax fraud case of Todd Ryan and Amy Hill.

Craig Caldicott, for Hill, argued that the young mother had been lulled into the offending by Ryan.

“Clearly, she trusted him. Clearly, she was being swept off her feet. Clearly, it was one of those things that you thought was a very quick progression into a fairly heady friendship,” he said.

The jury did not accept either defence and, after a day of deliberating last month, found Ryan and Hill guilty.

Ryan was remanded in custody. Both face sentencing submissions this month.

Social media photos of Todd Ryan and Amy Hill who stood trial for taxation offences.