What is obtaining financial advantage by deception?
Found in section 82 of the Crimes Act 1958, obtaining financial advantage by deception is when an individual commits a criminal offence where they have engaged in deceptive behaviour to obtain a financial benefit. The maximum penalty for this crime is 10 years imprisonment.
Obtaining financial advantage by deception in VIC – A Case Study
A client came to Slades & Parsons when the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) had charged them with multiple offences. The offences were four counts of Dishonestly Obtaining a Financial Advantage by Deception from a Commonwealth entity. Again, the maximum penalty for this fraud offence is 10 years’ imprisonment and/or 600 penalty units.
This offending concerned obtaining Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds from the ATO, and attempts to obtain GST refunds, when there was no entitlement to such refunds.
Our client and the co-accused registered their businesses for GST. They nominated their own accounts for payments from the ATO, including GST refunds. They then lodged a monthly paper BAS with the ATO that showed false business activity over the period.
The total value of the fraud and attempted fraud was over $400,000.
Careful work leads to an exceptional result for our client
Accredited Criminal Law Specialist, Ms Pisasale, analysed the comprehensive brief. After extensive negotiations with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP), he resolved the 68 charges to three representative counts. These were two counts of Obtaining a Financial Advantage by Deception and one count of Attempting to Obtain a Financial Advantage by Deception.
On the plea in the County Court, the Crown submitted several cases demonstrating that sentencing practices were for 12 months or more gaol.
We provided the court with character references and a comprehensive personal background of our client. Ms Pisasale contextualised the offending through detailed submissions. However, we conceded that gaol was appropriate.
After submissions on behalf of our client, the court accepted that these were mitigating circumstances. Ultimately, the court imposed only a brief sentence and a five-year $2000.00, ‘Recognisance Release Order’. This required our client to only serve 6 months’ in custody.
This was an exceptional result for our client, however it is important to remember that each fraud case will differ. Each outcome will depend on an analysis of the evidence by one of our expert lawyers, who will carefully prepare the case for hearing. This will be done based on instructions given by our client.
Slades & Parsons – Experts in dealing with fraudulent financial deception
At Slades & Parsons, our accredited criminal law specialists are well versed when it comes to dealing with cases that involve a person obtaining a financial advantage by deception. Contact one of our expert lawyers today.