Accountant Gavin Lawrence Swan faces court charged with $600K tax fraud

An accountant allegedly ripped off “100 alleged victims” of almost $600,000 by skimming their tax returns and redirecting Jobseeker and other payments, a court has heard.

A 54-year-old tax accountant has faced court for the first time after being charged with 24 offences including allegedly defrauding clients and dealing with almost $600,000 in alleged proceeds of crime.

Gavin Lawrence Swan, of Green Point, appeared in person at Gosford Local Court on Friday after he was charged last month.

It comes after detectives from the State Crime Command’s Financial Crimes Squad established Strike Force Windorra earlier this year following reports of alleged fraudulent activity against clients of a registered tax accountant.

Assisted by investigators from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), detectives conducted two searches at an Erina business and a Green Point home in March, seizing documentation and electronic devices for further forensic examination.

Following extensive investigations, Mr Swan attended Gosford Police Station on Friday, April 8, where he was charged with 23 counts of dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception and one count of knowingly deal with proceeds of crime.

Charge sheets tendered in court allege Mr Swan “deflated” the PAYG figure for many clients’ individual tax returns by various amounts, ranging from $1500 to more than $3800, and deposited the difference directly into his Bendigo or Bank of Queensland accounts.

The alleged offences dated back as far as 2014 with Mr Swan charged with dealing with a total of $580,476 in Australian currency allegedly “knowing it to be proceeds of crime committed by him while he was an accountant” the charge sheets read.

Mrn Swan, 54, of Green Point, leaving Gosford Local Court where he is facing 23 charges of tax fraud and one count of obtaining financial advantage by deception. Picture: NewsLocal

He is also charged with applying for JobKeeper and Cashflow Booster grants in various names, without their knowledge and depositing the money into his own accounts.

The police prosecutor told the court the matter was “complex” and would involve further assistance from ATO investigators.

“There’s 100 alleged victims,” he told the court.

Mr Swan’s solicitor Kevin Vierboom told the court his client would be applying to vary his bail at a future appearance before the matter was adjourned to August 12.

Mr Swan declined to comment outside court where he was excused from appearing on the next occasion if he was legally represented.