ATO workers GST scam cost taxpayers $2 billion, amid push for Baby Dee Zearwie to be jailed
Four ATO staffers have now been convicted of fraud in a GST scam that has cost $2 billion — and the ATO is demanding employee Baby Dee Zearwie also spend time behind bars.
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EXCLUSIVE
Australian Taxation Office workers ripped off their employer in a GST scam that has cost the public purse of $2 billion.
This masthead can reveal four ATO staffers have now been convicted of fraud. They fleeced amounts between $16,000 and $94,000.
In an interview, ATO deputy commissioner Nick Shizas blasted the convicted workers.
“There are over 20,000 public servants in the ATO who are dedicated to serving the community with the highest levels of integrity, as the community rightly expects,” Mr Shizas said. “Those who act contrary to our values do a disservice to us all and have no place in the ATO.”
The GST scam took off in late 2021 after how-to videos were shared on social media.
The scam typically involved obtaining an ABN for a fictitious enterprise then submitting bogus Business Activity Statements (BAS) for GST refunds on purchases that hadn’t been made.
As many as 57,000 people exploited self-reporting to cheat the system in the largest rort of its type in the nation’s history. Only $160 million has been recovered.
The ATO initially suspected as many as 150 staff were involved. However later it became clear that more than 140 of these people were former workers who had left the tax office before committing the fraud.
The ATO referred several employees who were on its books at the time of their offending to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
One of the workers, Brisbane woman Paraskevi Vula Danassis, obtained $94,000 in refunds for a pretend cleaning business.
At a sentencing hearing two months ago, the Queensland District Court heard Danassis spent $11,000 on dental implants for “reparative work on her jaw after a violent encounter with her ex-partner.”
Her ex also coerced her into taking out high-interest payday loans and some of ill-gotten gains were spent on repayments, the court was told.
But the federal prosecutor said it was “still a case of using the money for personal gain” such as “non-essentials” and cryptocurrency.
Judge Dzenita Balic noted Danassis was pregnant with her fourth child and had repaid the fraudulent GST refunds via a loan from her mother.
For one count of “general dishonesty obtaining a gain”, Danassis was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment but released immediately on a two-year good behaviour bond.
Long-term ATO accountant Gaya Ranasinghe of Adelaide was found guilty of three counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception. She defrauded $16,000.
Last week Ranasinghe was sentenced to four months’ jail – suspended provided she is of good behaviour for 18 months.
“Loss by fraud, through the tax system, impacts the whole community,” Magistrate Louise Kleinig said. “You know this very well yourself, as you worked for the ATO for 13 years – including in the BAS integrity and insights branch, conducting audits on businesses and individuals.”
Ranasinghe has repaid the $16,000 she obtained.
Another staffer, Melbourne’s Hawa Akbar – who falsely claimed nearly $50,000 – was convicted of one count of obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
Last year she was ordered to repay everything she took. She was also ordered to do 200 hours of community service but has since applied to have that varied because she recently gave birth.
The fourth worker was last year found guilty of two counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception. She falsely claimed $35,000. A Victorian Magistrates Court convicted her, ordered her to repay what she received and imposed a $4000 fine.
It is not suggested that any of the ATO workers used inside knowledge of the system to commit or spread the fraud.
ATO DEMAND ZEARWIE BE JAILED OVER GST SCAM
The Australian Taxation office is demanding a jail term for an employee involved in a GST scam that ripped almost $90,000 from taxpayers.
Baby Dee Zearwie, 25, pleaded guilty to two counts of obtaining a financial advantage by deception in Melbourne’s County Court.
She was one of about 57,000 people who took advantage of a $2 billion rip off promoted on TikTok where scammers plugged fake invoices into their MyGov accounts to claim instant refunds.
Zearwie was 21 when she used the scam to collect a $17,572 return before allegedly luring four other people into the scheme.
A friend allegedly asked her in a text message if it was illegal and Zearwie replied: “It’s legit but you can only do it once.”
The total losses to taxpayers from false Business Activity (BAS) statements linked to Zearwie was $87,649.60.
Greg Buchhorn, appearing for the prosecution, told the County Court that a jail sentence was required for Ms Zearwie to act as a “general deterrent” because the GST refunds were a “soft target”.
He said Zearwie was “motivated by greed”, adding the fact that she encouraged other people to defraud the taxpayer increased the seriousness of the offence.
“The ATO relies on the honesty of taxpayers,” he said.
“It’s not argued that this is a victimless crime, tax evasion affects the community as a whole.”
Zearwie was working as an IT contractor for the ATO in 2021 and 2022 when she participated in the scam. She does not work at the ATO now.
However, the prosecution accepted that her role at the ATO did not provide her with inside information that allowed her to rort the system because it was widely shared on social media.
Zearwie set up a company and registered it for GST then filed a claim with a fake BAS, which resulted in an instant refund paid into her account.
She then encouraged four other people to set up companies and log in to their MyGov account to lodge fake returns.
They allegedly gave her access to their accounts and the “second factor authentication” codes to allow the claims to be made.
Zearwie then received a “cut” of the money scammed from the ATO.
Mr Buchhorn told the court that Zearwie received $44,939.60 in total from the offending, but only $20,000 was directly paid into her account.
She is now on a payment plan to repay that amount.
Defence barrister Kate Ballard told the court that Zearwie’s offending was a “serious matter’.
However she asked Judge Caitlin English to spare her jail by sentencing her to a Community Corrections Order.
She said Zearwie was born in a refugee camp in Liberia and had come to Australia with her father when she was five years old.
He had left her birth mother and married again, with Zearwie having four younger siblings.
Ms Ballard said she only found out about her heritage who “remained in West Africa when she received a Facebook message from her mother”.
“That’s something that really rocked her,” she said.
Zearwie had been a diligent worker since she was 15, working at McDonald’s, the Pancake Parlour, Telstra and the ATO but was now employed as an NDIS support worker.
“She has two clients with disabilities and is paid $2200 per fortnight,” Ms Ballard said.
Zearwie was required to do regular police checks for her NDIS job and feared that a conviction would put her employment at risk.
“She has no history of drugs and is only a social drinker,” Ms Ballard said.
Judge English ordered that Zearwie be assessed for a Community Corrections Order, but gave no indication of whether it would be granted.
The case will return to court on Friday July 11 for sentencing.
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