A greedy mother-of-two who stole almost $600,000 from taxpayers to buy designer handbags and fund her “methamphetamine abuse” has been jailed.
Tahra Wyntjes, 24, was sentenced to 28 months behind bars in the Victoria County Court after pleading guilty to obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
The Victorian mother defrauded taxpayers of a whopping $599,349 through an elaborate GST scam between May 2021 and January 2022.
He submitted a series of false GST refunds for a bogus cleaning company he had first registered in 2022 with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
Wyntjes falsified 27 business activity statements and attempted to steal a further $259,976 from the ATO between January and March 2022.
Investigators continued to contact Gippsland’s mother for more information about her claims, but she “offered no help,” the police said. Herald of the sun information.
Instead, he told authorities that he was “all in” with his two children and running his fake cleaning company, but that he would “send the information as soon as possible.”
Investigators discovered the true extent of the mother-of-two’s incessant spending after an in-depth analysis of her bank accounts.
Tahra Wyntjes (pictured) was sentenced to 28 months behind bars in the Victoria County Court after pleading guilty to obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
Wyntjes spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on designer items from Gucci and Louis Vuitton and on MenuLog, UberEats, Airbnb, flights and accommodations.
He gave his partner $139,154, sent $18,054 to his mother-in-law and $48,500 to another man, and spent $244,831 on Apple products and $20,458 on Airbnbs.
Wyntjes also used the stolen money to fund a “raging methamphetamine habit”, the court heard on Wednesday.
Judge Richard Maidment said it was a crime of “sheer greed and opportunism”.
“All the money was spent on you and your own leisure expenses and not on anything related to equipment or cleaning services,” he said.
‘Some of the rest of the money was actually wasted… you went into your own spending and gave money to your partner… all that money seems to have disappeared in one way or another…’
Wyntjes was jailed for a maximum of four years with a non-parole period of two years and four months and ordered to pay the ATO.
The court heard her partner will “take on the burden” she has behind bars.
A greedy mother-of-two (pictured) who stole more than $500,000 from Australian taxpayers to buy designer bags and fund her ‘methamphetamine abuse’ has been jailed.
Victoria’s Acting Deputy Commissioner Jade Hawkins said the sentence served as a warning to those who attempted to defraud the government.
‘Our message remains clear. If you don’t run a business, you don’t need an ABN and you can’t claim GST refunds. This is a fraud,” said Mrs Hawkins.
“Not only did this person file fraudulent activity statements, but he also concocted a bogus business to claim GST refunds to which he was not entitled.”
The ATO has taken action against 57,000 alleged offenders who have received a total of more than $300 million in fines and interest since September 30.
