Fraudster Todd Ryan jailed for swindling $330,000 in GST refund scheme

A couple who greedily swindled more than $330,000 from the Commonwealth by fraudulently claiming GST rebates have been sentenced.

A former ATO officer and his then-partner have been sentenced after swindling more than $330,000 from the Commonwealth in a scam “not particularly sophisticated” or well executed, a court has heard.

Todd Patrick Richard Ryan, 46, and Amy Celia Hill, 36, registered companies and used fake business activity statements to fraudulently claim GST refunds for financial greed in a scheme which ran between April 2011 and December 2011.

Ryan was found guilty at trial of 13 counts of dishonestly obtaining an advantages from the Commonwealth and two counts of attempting to obtain an advantage.

All up, he scammed about $330,235 and attempted to swindle another $75,685 by creating fake businesses and claimed GST refunds for millions of dollars in fictitious sales.

Hill was also found guilty of five counts of dishonestly obtaining an advantage after she fell into Ryan’s orbit and became the registered director of several fake companies. Her part in the offending, conducted with Ryan, related to $136,861.

Todd Ryan and Amy Hill were found guilty of scamming hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Commonwealth Government.

In sentencing on Monday, District Court Judge McIntyre said Ryan was the principal offender who authored the scheme which she said was “not particularly sophisticated nor was it well executed”.

“While it is not clear what happened to the funds obtained by this offending plainly you were motivated by financial greed,” she said.

The pair, who were married in 2013 before a later breakdown of their relationship, became unstuck when the ATO noticed “some unusual aspects” to the business activity statements the pair had lodged.

Judge McIntyre said the pair also tried to “frustrate the audit process” with Ryan also authored “voluminous, unhelpful and largely false material that was provided to various accountants and ATO officers”.

Todd Ryan was found guilty of scamming more than $330,000 from the Commonwealth.

She said Ryan, who had been diagnosed with a narcissistic personality disorder, had not acknowledged his wrongdoing.

“You intentionally and dishonestly set out to claim money to which you were not entitled,” she said.

She said Ryan’s employment at the ATO at the time of the crimes made his offending “more serious”.

Judge McIntyre said Hill had “blind trust” in Ryan who had lavished her with gifts, outings and compliments when they first met in August 2011.

“You saw him as your knight in shining armour,” she said.

Within two months, Ryan had moved in with Hill and she agreed to join the scheme.

She said Hill had not expressed remorse for her offending. She said Hill did not accept responsibility for the offending despite the jury verdict, blaming Ryan for the entirety of the scheme.

“I accept that Ryan involved you in a scheme of his devising that pre-existed your relationship,” she said.

“I further accept that you played far less significant role than he did. However, you did agree to be a director of the companies that Ryan set up and to open bank accounts.”

Hill also provided false information to the ATO.

Todd Ryan.

Amy Hill and Todd Ryan.

None of the money has been recovered by the ATO, and no money has been paid back to the ATO.

“It is not a victimless crime. It is a crime against the Australian community because it reduces the funds available for essential services and increases the tax burden on honest taxpayers,” Judge McIntyre said.

She said the pair exploited the ATO’s vulnerability of relying on Australians to self-report to obtain “a large amount of money unlikely to ever be recovered”.

“The effects of your offending will be felt by the whole community,” she said.

“Offending of this kind is not only difficult to detect, but once detected it is not only difficult but time consuming to prosecute.”

Ryan was jailed for six years, with a three-and-a-half-year non-parole period.

Hill avoided a three-year jail term in favour of a three-year recognisance order.