PATRICK JOHN RENSHAW, 68, a former lawyer whose frauds contributed to losses suffered by many Upper Hutt investors in the 1990s has pleaded guilty to tax charges. [The NZ Gazette records him as a bankrupt effective 7 April 2014 in a notice from the official assignee].
Renshaw, now a tax advisor, was in the Wellington District Court yesterday (18/8/15) where guilty pleas were entered to 42 charges of aiding and abetting offences, most of them for not paying PAYE tax deductions to the Department of Inland Revenue for employees of his own company.
Other charges related to trying to claim false GST refunds for four companies, and filing a false tax return for himself and one company. He will be sentenced next week.
Inland Revenue produced a chart showing the shortfall in tax paid was $144,968, with another $201,413 attempted.
Renshaw was one of two defrauding partners in the high-profile collapse of Upper Hutt law firm Renshaw Edwards in 1992.
He was sentenced to seven years’ jail on 42 charges of fraud and theft involving $6.4 million of clients’ money. Unknown to him, another partner, Keith Edwards, was also committing frauds and was sentenced to six years jail.
The firm’s collapse eventually cost senior lawyers throughout the country, who had to contribute to a fund to repay some of the money lost. Investors, especially in the Upper Hutt area, had put money with the firm to be loaned out, and the firm was also holding money on trust for clients.
In Renshaw’s latest offending, he had connections with several companies either as director, shareholder or partner.
Inland Revenue said it audited his company Resource Management Research Services Ltd [RMRSL], which provides accounting and tax return filing services. [This company remains on the Register of Companies].
It also looked at the GST returns for associated companies. They were mostly based on tax invoices for management fees RMRSL charged to the associated entities.
Renshaw said the invoices were for the work he did to manage and raise finance for them.
Inland Revenue said the fees were not legitimate since the entities had no assets from which the fees could be paid, there was no recorded basis for the amounts charged, all used the same bank account, no transactions appeared to relate to the fees, and there was no evidence that any of the fees were ever paid. Among the offences was an attempt to claim a GST input credit for buying a BMW Mini, registered in the name of Renshaw’s wife.
Source:
The Dominion Post, Wednesday August 19, 2015, p. A4.
See earlier SPCS posts:
Former fraudster faces bankruptcy 4/3/14
https://www.spcs.org.nz/former-fraudster-faces-bankruptcy/
No-show in court for tax adviser – John Patrick Renshaw 6/3/14
https://www.spcs.org.nz/no-show-in-court-for-tax-adviser-john-patrick-renshaw/
Tax Fraud Trial for company director 20/3/14
https://www.spcs.org.nz/tax-fraud-trial-for-company-director/
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/9844479/Fraud-charges-to-go-to-trial
Former $6.4 m fraudster bankrupt over BNZ debt 8/4/14
https://www.spcs.org.nz/former-6-4-m-fraudster-bankrupt-over-bnz-debt/
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