Melbourne grifter mum Ashleigh Westlow avoids jail time after pleading guilty to GST frauds

A Melbourne mum who stole almost $200,000 from taxpayers via a GST scam has dodged jail because she has to look after her kid.

Melbourne fraud mum Ashleigh Westlow pleaded guilty to a obtain financial advantage to deception charge. Facebook.

A Melbourne mum who ripped almost $200,000 via a scam where she claimed GST on a staggering $2.5m in phony business purchases has avoided an immediate jail term.

Ashleigh Westlow, 32, was sentenced in the County Court on Monday to a 28-month suspended jail term after pleading guilty to obtain financial advantage by deception.

Westlow rorted $197,917 via multiple bogus Business Activity Statements (BAS) between October 2021 and April 2022.

She purported to be a sole trader who ran a laundry and dry-cleaning business but a review of Westlow’s bank statements “revealed there were no transactions

consistent with running a laundry and dry-cleaning business”.

The ATO also undertook a review of “third party or publicly available information of a laundry or dry-cleaning business being operated by (Westlow)” which “revealed nil results”.

The court heard Westlow’s “registered business address” was a residential address and the fraudster mum had no “website, staff or merchant facilities on record”.

The ATO found Westlow lodged phony BAS claims which “appeared to have been fraudulent or fabricated solely for the purpose of claiming GST refunds”.

The ATO report concluded Westlow’s BAS reporting was “not businesslike and was ad hoc in nature”.

Westlow’s claims were also “unusual when compared with legitimate businesses”, the court was told.

Westlow, who recently gave birth to a son, also claimed a whopping $229,000 in GST credits based on a staggering $2.52m in fake purchases.

“Considering the accused was purporting to be a sole trader with no employees or contractors, it is not feasible that she would incur such high purchases for a laundry or cleaning business,” the prosecution submitted.

The ATO referred the matter to Commonwealth prosecutors who charged the greedy mum with fraud following an investigation.

Westlow, who admitted she held an ABN, initially attempted to act dumb when quizzed by authorities.

Westlow, who claimed she worked for Geelong Spotless Cleaning, told authorities she reported purchasing cleaning supplies for herself and “approximately thirty other cleaners”.

The court heard Westlow also claimed she purchased 12 vacuum cleaners at $288 a pop but her Geelong Spotless boss had given her the money.

Westlow then told authorities she claimed these purchases as her own business expenses.

“(I) should’ve a hundred per cent looked into it more and done more about it;” Westlow told authorities.

“(I’m) getting someone to look at it at the moment to fix it all …”

Westlow also claimed she “did not know how she figured out what she reported to the ATO for the following months”.

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Westlow, of Truganina, also claimed the total she said she spent on some purchases was “obviously not true”.

Westlow told authorities “that’s crazy” when it was put that her bogus GST refunds had run up to $135,324 at that stage of the investigation.

Westlow later fessed she realised her first bogus BAS claim was “a way to obtain this money”.

Westlow also told authorities she “thought” the GST refund cash was her “get out of jail free card … to pay people back”.

The defence submitted Westlow’s infant son would suffer hardship if she went to jail.

Judge Kevin Doyle gave Westlow a “last chance” to avoid immediate prison.

“You’re extremely lucky (you are not going to prison today) only because you are looking after a young child,” Judge Doyle said.

Judge Doyle also called Westlow’s racket a “totally deliberate fraud”.

”It’s all gone ... this whole thing was a complete fraud … the quantum was significant,” he said.

Westlow was convicted and handed a 28-month jail term but was immediately released onto a three-year good behaviour bond.