Geelong crook Shaun Hutchinson jailed after spending $83,470 in fraudulent ATO refunds

A Geelong con has been hit with a prison term after a “complex” GST fraud scheme where he spent more than $83,000 in ATO refunds.

Geelong man Shaun Hutchinson was jailed for three months over a GST fraud scheme. Photo: supplied.

A Geelong man has been hit with a jail term after a “sophisticated and complex” GST fraud scheme where he spent more than $83,000 in tax refunds.

Serial con Shaun Hutchinson, 37, pleaded guilty to recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Thursday, after he was targeted by the Australian Taxation Office-led investigation Operation Protego.

The probe uncovered large-scale GST fraud across the country that wiped out millions of taxpayer dollars.

The court heard Hutchinson used an ABN “for a tattoo shop” on four separate occasions and submitted fictitious business activity statements (BAS) to the ATO to gain several illegitimate GST returns.

The offending occurred between February and March in 2022.

After receiving $83,470 in rebates, the court heard Mr Hutchinson, a father-of-four, then made 85 transactions to disperse the money.

A total of $43,000 was transferred to “acquaintances” while $15,000 was withdrawn from ATMs in a short period of time.

Hutchinson has an extensive criminal history. Photo: supplied.

Federal prosecutor Emily Mansie said 25 transactions were also made through his wife’s bank account.

The court heard that by March 11 the balance of his bank account was “zero.”

Ms Mansie told the court that Hutchinson’s extensive criminal history involving dishonesty should be taken into account when sentenced.

He has been in prison since June last year on unrelated matters.

In handing down his sentence, magistrate Simon Guthrie said the offending “was serous” and warranted jail.

“While some people would say this crime is non violent … that money is gone,” he said.

“This (crime) was a trend in early 2022. I would hate to think of the millions of dollars lost to these matters.”

Hutchinson pleaded guilty to one count of dealing with proceeds of indictable crime valued at $50,000 or more, and being reckless as to the fact the property was proceeds of crime.

Mr Guthrie said it was “tempting” to jail him for nine months before imposing a three month term.

Originally published as Geelong crook Shaun Hutchinson jailed after spending $83,470 in fraudulent ATO refunds