An Auckland man has been jailed for five and a half years for large-scale tax fraud, using information he bought from online dark web marketplaces.
Nicholas Ngwun bought people's credit card details and personal information - including usernames and passwords for accounts with Gmail, RealMe, Inland Revenue, Sky TV, Facebook, LinkedIn and telecommunications services.
Over nearly two years, he submitted 121 fraudulent documents to Inland Revenue in other people's names in attempts to get more than $2 million. He received $251,035.74.
In a statement, Inland Revenue said he used at least 59 myIR accounts.
The documents he submitted ranged from Covid support applications for the Small Business Cashflow Scheme loans, Resurgence Support Payments, and GST and Income Tax returns and amendments.
Ngwun used electronic templates to forge fake drivers licences, community services cards, and service and utilities letters, then used those to set up bank accounts in the names of fictional people.
In four cases, he stole the identities of real people and set up accounts in their names. The money he accessed from Inland Revenue using the fraudulent documents was directed into those bank accounts.
Once received, Ngwun distributed the money between himself and his family members.
He pleaded guilty to 10 charges relating to tax and Covid fraud, and two charges for perjury and fabricating evidence.
Ngwun was originally scheduled for sentencing in January, but days before sentencing, he provided a sworn affidavit stating he had graduated from a rehabilitation programme for drug and addiction issues. He also provided a certificate of completion, supposedly signed by the rehabilitation centre staff.
However, the certificate of completion he gave the court was a fabrication - he had attended one module of the rehabilitation programme and was discharged after he failed to turn up again.
Ngwun filed the affidavit and certificate of completion in an attempt to gain a discount on sentencing for the tax and Covid fraud offending.
Inland Revenue information security leader Jay Harris said the fraud represented a new frontier of digital offending, using AI and other digital tools for manipulating documentation.
"Inland Revenue's systems can detect this sort of fraud, and IR is well prepared to combat attempts to defraud the tax system," Harris said.
"Our systems prevented the vast majority of Ngwun's attempts to obtain payments from us. We were also assisted by the banks and other organisations to help identify him."
Harris said Inland Revenue has prosecuted 15 people for fraud involving the Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme, the Covid Support Payment, and Resurgence Support Payment, while 17 other cases are currently in the court system, and investigations are on-going for other Covid-19 support fraud cases.
He said increased compliance funding meant IR could do more audits and debt collection work, and investigations into specific sectors were continuing.
SHARE ME