Mildura’s biggest tax fraudsters: Catherine Dyason, Beau Khan, Naomi Bullock and more

Named and shamed: see the roster of wannabe con artists from Mildura who tried to rip off the ATO and got caught.

Some of Mildura’s dodgy tax cheats have been revealed.

More than $120,000 has been conned from the Australian Taxation Office from this list of Mildura swindlers. Read about their failed escapades below:
Elise Dawes

Elise Dawes pleaded guilty scamming the ATO out of $37,363 and attempting to get more.

An ice-abusing Mildura mum scammed the ATO out of $37,363 after discovering a tax system loophole where she filed thousands of dollars in false GST claims.

Elise Dawes pleaded guilty to multiple charges including attempting to defraud the tax office and successfully defrauding the tax office of $40,000 in fake GST claims.

Over six days in May, Dawes lodged multiple false GST claims for a business that didn’t exist, gaining a massive $37,363 from the government agency.

In June, she attempted to make a further $39,997 claim, but was rejected by the ATO.

Magistrate Russell Kelly likened her thievery to grand theft auto.

“There is some planning that has gone into this,” he said.

“It’s the same as stealing a new motor car and driving it off the lot.”

“Why shouldn’t I send her to jail? She still uses ice and rolls along like nothing happened. There has got to be some consequences.”

Dawes received four months suspended sentence for each charge to run concurrently.

Mr Kelly warned Dawes that if her flagrant behaviour continued, the consequences would get worse.

“This is a high level of criminal behaviour,” he said.

“This is your last chance to avoid a jail term, it doesn’t matter if you’ve got kids at home or who you’re looking after.”

Bethany Garoni

Bethany Garoni has narrowly avoided prison after her attempt at tax fraud flopped.

A retail worker only avoided being thrown behind bars because her fraudulent claim never reached her account.

Bethany Garoni attempted to claim $204,512 between April and June 2022, by lodging a false GST refund backdated to October 2021.

The court heard Garoni had given her MyGov details and one-time password to another person.

In a business statement lodged in April 2022, Garoni claimed the ATO owed her $132,516, meaning her business would have had millions of dollars’ worth of expenses.

Magistrate Michael Coghlan said it was “no wonder the ATO smelled a rat”.

“What an extortionary business that would have been,” he said.

“You would have had to purchase more than $1m in stock with no sales to recoup the expenditure,” he said.

As the claim was audited, Garoni received no money from that claim, however, this didn’t stop her from making more false claims in the following months.

Garoni was arrested on November 17, where she made full admissions that she wasn’t entitled to the GST refunds.

Garoni’s lawyer Hugh Middleton, said her offending happened at a time where her life had gone “downhill”.

“It was at a fairly low power in her life, she has since got back on her feet entirely under her own steam.”

Mr Coghlan told Garoni if she’d received any money, she would be behind bars.

“Had you been successful in obtaining an amount near what you asked, it would have been very simple to give you an immediate term of imprisonment,” he said.

Garoni was given a community corrections order and 200 hours of community work.

Naomi Bullock

Naomi Bullock pleaded guilty to attempting to scam the ATO out of $44,700

A grape-picking granny caught trying to con the ATO out of almost $45k has had her freedom put on the vine over false claims.

Farm worker Naomi Bullock, made three false GST refund claims between May and June 2022, totalling $44,700.

Revealed by an ongoing GST fraud investigation, Bullock was audited and arrested in October.

The court heard Bullock had been released from prison just months prior to her ATO offending.

“She was released from prison in June, and has just completed 16 weeks of drug rehabilitation,” her lawyer Robyn Greenhill said.

“She has worked hard doing everything right in regards to her recovery and she’s kicking herself for getting involved in this.”

Bullock pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 150 hours of community work with a conviction.

Beau Khan

Beau Khan pleaded guilty to attempting to steal over $21,000 in tax fraud.

A night out turned into a nightmare for Beau Khan after he gave his tax information to a stranger in the pub.

Khan, 21, who had moved from Mildura to Geelong to escape bad influences, attempted to scam $21,000 from the ATO, after he lost his job.

In July 2022, Khan set up a fake mechanic business with the ATO and made a false $21,000 GST refund claim

The ATO didn’t issue any money and began an audit of Khan’s account, before notifying the attempted thief that his account had been cancelled.

Khan claimed someone else had set up the fake account, but that he was too drunk to know who he gave his details to.

Magistrate Patrick Southey said Khan’s offending was a low level attempt to deceive the ATO.

“I accept this was simply an extended hangover, and it was purely an attempt,” he said.

Khan was given 100 hours of community work and no conviction.

Catherine Leonia Dyason

Catherine Leonia Dyason pleading guilty to ATO fraud, sending her behind bars.

A mother-of-two who swindled tens of thousands of dollars in fake GST claims blew the money on new teeth and tyres.

Hairdresser and wannabe con artist, Catherine Leonia Dyason, ripped off the ATO for more than $30,000, before spending the loot on new teeth and new tyres for her car.

The Mildura mum was jailed for a month and had a further two month suspended sentence in July.

Dyason registered a business under her name in February last year, before lodging a false GST claim to the tune of $17,505. The fake claim slipped through the cracks and the money was deposited into her account.

Confident in her swindling abilities, Dyason made another claim a month later, claiming a further $16,705 from the ATO.

The second claim tipped off the ATO and an audit uncovered Dyason’s fraud.

Dyason’s registration was cancelled in July, before she was interviewed by police in December.

“She made admissions to police that she gave her details to someone else and then (they) set it up for her,” the police prosecutor told the court.

Dyason told the court she had spent the money getting her teeth done, on general shopping, and on new tyres for her car.

In his sentencing remarks, magistrate Patrick Southey said he had to set an example for other would-be offenders.

Dyason was sentenced to one month behind bars and two months on suspended sentence.

“I hope you understand this is about seeing an example,” Mr Southey said.

Brylei Phillips

Brylei Phillips pleaded guilty to tens of thousands of dollars in tax fraud.

Ignorance is not bliss for a Mildura mum attempting tax fraud on a defunct business.

Brylei Phillips, 28, pleaded guilty to seven charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception, after swindling $38,765 in false GST claims from the ATO between February and April 2022.

Last year, Phillips re-established a cancelled ABN for a catering business she had previously operated in Alice Springs.

She then proceeded to make seven false claims to the ATO, totalling $38,765 in business expenses.

The court heard Phillips had been guided through the process by her recently released jailbird brother.

The mother of three told police she “thought it was legit”, before a police investigation revealed otherwise.

The police prosecutor said the communication between Phillips and her brother indicated the duo “knew it was illegal”.

Magistrate Michael Coghlan pushed back on lawyer Hugh Middleton’s claims that the false claims were “opportunistic”.

“I don’t think that it’s opportunistic at all. I’m certain you were well aware and you intended to do this,” he said.

Phillips was sentenced to 250 hours of community work, a 12 month good behaviour bond and was ordered to repay the ATO.

Walton Bevan

Walton Bevan in jail after in ATO fraud

A sole trader caught scamming the ATO out of tens of thousands of dollars has been locked up.

Walton Bevon, 33, scammed the tax office out of $59,769 between February and May 2022, after following dodgy advice from his brother-in-law, who had been recently released from prison.

In text messages revealed to the court, Bevan’s brother-in-law said “bro, get Brylei to register for GST, and we’ll be able to pump 20k a month.”

Mentioned above, Brylei Phillips, Bevon’s 28-year-old wife, had pleaded guilty to fraud in early June this year, after gaining $38,000 from the ATO.

Bevan admitted to police in an interview that he “knew he’d f--ked up”.

The stolen money had been spent on rent and car repairs, but a significant portion had been repaid.

Magistrate Michael Coghlan said the repayment was “irrelevant”.

“This is not a situation where you’ve entered into this enterprise not knowing what you were doing,” he said.

“You knowingly ripped money from the Australian community. The federal government relies on tax for resources for the very needy, unemployment payments and pensions.”

Bevon was taken into custody and sentenced to two months behind bars and received a $2000 fine.