Tax fraud accused to plead guilty, lawyer tells court

A senior member of a company involved in one of the largest cases of tax fraud in Australian history, plans to plead guilty.

Adam Cranston outside the Supreme Court in Sydney Picture: John Grainger

A senior member of Plutus Payroll, a company involved in one of the largest cases of tax fraud in Australian history, plans to plead guilty to his alleged involvement, a court has heard.

A lawyer acting for Joshua Meredith Kitson, the former general manager of Plutus Payroll, told Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court yesterday his client would soon enter a plea. He faces one charge of conspiring to cause loss.

Fourteen people are charged over the alleged scam, which involved more than $100 million in taxes being skimmed from the Australian Taxation Office through underpaid payroll taxes.

Andrew Herring, Mr Kitson’s lawyer, told magistrate Jennifer Atkinson he had been instructed to move towards a guilty plea.

“My instructions are there will be a plea of guilty, it’s an indication only at this stage,” he said.

In court, lawyers said they had received a “fifth tranche” of documents from prosecutors, and were unsure how to proceed to a committal hearing.

“It’s unfortunate, every delay,” Ms Atkinson said. “All of you need to get it out of this court as quickly as possible.” The court has heard there is a brief of more than a million pages.

All 14 co-accused will return to court on November 27. Lawyers are hoping to get 11 transferred to the NSW Supreme Court and three to the NSW District Court in coming months.

Ten people were charged in May last year, while another four, including Mr Kitson, were charged in July this year.

The AFP’s Plutus Payroll investigation saw the arrest of Adam Michael Cranston and Lauren Anne Cranston, the son and daughter of former ATO deputy commissioner Michael Cranston. Daniel Hausman, Christopher Guillan, Aaron Paul, Simon Anquetil, Jason Onley, Devyn Hammond, Dev Menon, Daniel Rostankovski, Paul O’Leary, journalist Stephen Barrett and lawyer Sevag Chalabian also face charges.