Tiana Dawes jailed after pleading guilty to stealing $111k

A Corio mother who scammed the ATO of more than $111k had just $40 in her bank account when she was arrested, a court has heard

Tiana Dawes. Picture: Peter Ristevski

A Corio mother’s fake business scam has landed her behind bars, with a County Court judge declaring her offending was “deeply dishonest” and greedy.

Tiana Lee Dawes, 30, defauded the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) of more than $111,000 by lodging false GST refunds in early 2022.

The court heard Dawes registered her business, GSC Specialised Cleaning Services, in 2018 for an ABN and then in late 2021 registered it for GST.

At the time she registered it for GST and claimed the refunds, the business did not exist, the court was told.

Dawes, who was remanded into custody on Thursday - her 30th birthday - and was sentenced in the Melbourne County Court to 15 months in prison.

However, she is set to spend just five months behind bars before being released on a recognizance release order (RRO) with a surety of $2000.

Dawes must also compensate the ATO for the $111,624 she stole.

The court heard she was on bail at the time, and blew $25,000 “in a couple of days” during the period.

Despite the six-figure scam, she had just $40 in her bank account when she was arrested.

Dawes’ lawyer, Jonathan Barrera told the court his client was using methamphetamine at the time of the offending and asked she be sentenced to a community corrections order.

In sentencing Dawes, Judge Andrew Tinney said a CCO was “simply not open” and said a term of inprisonment was necessary.

Judge Tinney said the offending was planned and showed some level of sophistication as it “was all completely false”.

“You could have been under no illusions as to to how serious this was,” he told Dawes.

Judge Tinney said there was “silence on the genesis of this scheme” and that he had been provided no insight into how Dawes worked out exactly how to go about defrauding the ATO.

Dawes had a “reasonable” chance of rehabilitation but she had to kick a drug addiction and cut ties with some associaties, Judge Tinney said.

Dawes had a “unhappy and dysfunctional upbringing” the court heard, which contributed to the “faltering trajectory” of her life.

“It is not just some matter of historical curiosity for the court,” Judge Tinney said.

“These (upbringings) can deeply intrude in your later life”

However, Judge Tinney noted “even people from the most challenging backgrounds can break free”, telling Dawes she needed “to make better choices”.

Judge Tinney said he was “guarded” about her prospects, but “certainly can’t write (Dawes) off”.

After his sentencing remarks, a tearful Dawes asked to address Judge Tinney but was denied.

“I’m not here to debate the sentence,” Judge Tinney told Dawes’ laywer.

“She’s got you, you’ve done the best you can... it’s a matter for her to sign (a consent form for the release).”

Originally published as Tiana Dawes jailed after pleading guilty to stealing $111k