Kevin John Barnard used fraudulent Broadbeach tower to siphon more than $174,000

An engineer has fronted court after he siphoned more than $174,000 using a Gold Coast tower - which didn’t exist.

AN engineer used fake invoices to siphon more than $174,000 in GST for a Broadbeach tower that did not exist.

Another part of Kevin John Barnard’s fraudulent fairytale that caught him out was the fact he did not own the land the tower was to be built on or lodge development applications with council.

The 59-year-old pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court on Thursday to six counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception and two counts of attempting to gain financial advantage by deception.

Judge Rowan Jackson sentenced him to three years’ prison with immediate release on a $5000 good behaviour order.

“The offences are not victimless crimes, they are crimes against all Australians,” he said.

The court was told that in 2014 Barnard overstated his non-capital expenses on his BAS statements relating to a tower he was purportedly building in Broadbeach, resulting in GST refunds.

He received more than $147,000 than he was entitled.

Barnard attempted two more refunds totalling about $76,000 and was refused.

His deception was discovered during an audit by the Australian Taxation Office in which he used fake or unpaid invoices.

Judge Jackson said he did not order Barnard spend time in prison due to serious health concerns.

The court was told Barnard had a cardiac device implanted in October last year which relied on Wi-Fi to communicate with a medical facility to manage his conditions.

In recent days he had a number of extreme cardiac events.

The court was told it was unlikely a prison would be able to cater to Barnard’s medical needs.

If imprisoned he would be sent to a hospital where he would be under guard.

“The only reason you are not serving time in prison is because of your health,” Judge Jackson said.

Barnard was set to have an urgent medical appointment on Thursday afternoon.

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