A businessman in Dunedin, Paul Lambert Clarke used some white-out pens and glue to change documents to avoid paying more than $1.3m in tax.
Clarke was changing the value of imported machinery and was found out, appearing in court and pleading guilty on charges of altering documents and producing false documents.
Clarke had been undervaluing the importation of heavy machinery since 2013, for his company PL Clarke Ltd.
Clarke was responsible for forwarding invoices to his NZ customers broker but one entry showed differing values between the commercial invoice from the supplier and the one he had provided, which resulted in an audit.
This meant that the false invoices Clarke presented to New Zealand customs service led him to be able to pay less duty, particularly GST and thus the company was able to have a significant cash flow advantage over competitors and businesses that paid GST on time.
A raid occurred on Clarke’s properties discovered falsified documents.
Auditors were presented false invoices and altered proof of payments too. These were then analysed against his bank statements and immediately showed inconsistency. It is said that $1.3million in taxes were underpaid.