Taxman secretly chasing flashy bikie before his death
A slain Queensland bikie and his wife who flaunted their wealth at lavish parties were secretly targeted by the taxman before his alleged murder, a tribunal has heard.
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A slain Queensland bikie and his wife who flaunted their wealth at lavish parties were secretly targeted by the taxman before his alleged murder, with the ATO accusing the bikie of tax fraud or evasion after a covert audit of their finances, a tribunal has heard.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) alleged that Comanchero bikie Shane Anthony Ross, formerly of Coomera on the Gold Coast, should pay hefty penalties for tax evasion and tax avoidance for understating his taxable income by up to $800,000 between 2009 and 2014 but excluding 2011.
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Mr Ross denied the claims and was fighting the tax bill and penalties in a tribunal when he was shot dead during a clandestine meeting at a Tallebudgera park on October 18 last year.
Mr Ross’s body was found under a bridge with a gunshot wound to his head, just days after his friend Cameron Martin died in a single-vehicle crash.
Details of the tax evasion claims against Ross were revealed in documents filed in the Federal Court after the ATO filed an appeal in a bid to overturn parts of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) in relation to the tax bill, handed down in May.
The ATO accused Ross’s widow Alexandra of understating her income and ‘questionable transactions’ in 2014.
The AAT ruling upheld the ATO’s revised assessment of Mr Ross’s taxes and Ross’s widow Alexandra has also filed a cross-appeal of the tribunal decision in her capacity as representing her late husband’s estate, which remains liable to pay the tax bill after his death.
During the civil battle in the AAT Mr Ross and his wife’s identities were kept secret, and they denied claims that they had understated their income, arguing they have good explanations for all of the money passing through their accounts.
The ATO slapped Mr Ross with amended assessments for five tax years until 2015 in October 2015 after using an “asset betterment” analysis that suggested Mr Ross was earning much more than he was telling the ATO.
Mrs Ross was also targeted for allegedly under-reporting or failing to report her income.
Mr Ross, who was convicted in Campbelltown Local Court for his role in a sophisticated luxury car fraud syndicate shortly before his death, argued that more than $110,000 of his income were from gambling wins, and other payments were loans from his mates that he had not been asked to repay, or payment for selling luxury cars he had bought and on-sold.
Mrs Ross claimed $21,491 of her income in 2013 was from a winning bet on a State of Origin rugby league match.
In his decision handed down in May, AAT deputy president Bernard McCabe stated that it was open to find that Mr Ross’s tax debt was due to his “intentional disregard” of tax law, or conscious understating of his true income, or intentional mischaracterising of expenditures.
Mr McCabe noted that Mr Ross “lived life at (a) furious pace” and “enjoyed the idea of money – and he certainly enjoyed splashing it about – but did not treat it with care”.
Mr McCabe said Mr Ross had told the tribunal that he said he and his wife received $45,000 in cash gifts from the 100 guests at their engagement party held at the five star Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney, and that they spent $20,000 on meals, entertainment and luxury goods in one week on holiday in the US.
Mr Ross told the tribunal that it was common within his social circle to “flaunt wealth” and “throw extravagant engagement and wedding parties” and that during “free-wheeling trips” to Sydney he splashed out on hotels, serviced apartments and alcohol.
The couple married in 2014 and had a lavish reception in Sydney’s Ivy nightclub ballroom complete with Cirque du Soleil style acrobatic entertainment, and Brazilian dancers.
The couple lived in a palatial riverfront Gold Coast home worth $2 million.
Mr McCabe found that Mr Ross “took a jaunty approach to his financial affairs. He lived fast and, tragically, died young” before the tribunal case was decided.
Mr Ross said he routinely made bets through on-course bookmakers, the TAB, betting apps with online bookmakers, playing roulette at the casino, and the pokies at casinos, pubs and clubs.
Mr Ross also told the tribunal that he bet on boxing and football matches and gave a blow-by-blow description of his gambling strategy and he was establishing his own clothing line through his company Monstr Pty Ltd.
But Mr McCabe said it appeared the clothing line was more an “indulgent hobby, or a whimsical adornment for his chosen lifestyle” even though Mr Ross’s accountant said the business “had started to make money” in 2014.
The case is due to return to court on September 23 for a management hearing.
