Tony Edward Cree, a former commercial diver, has been sentenced to three years' imprisonment by the Christchurch District Court for GST fraud. (File photo)A man who fraudulently claimed more than $1 million in GST refunds has been sentenced to three years in prison. Inland Revenue (IR) spokesman Tony Morris said Cree, through his company Civil and Marine Group Limited, claimed about $1.1m in refunds he was not entitled to. Cree claimed the refunds between December 2009 and January 2015 when his account records showed no business activity expenses. He gave us false documents and information to try to validate the false GST returns he filed," Morris said.

Source: Stuff July 19, 2019 03:00 UTC