A man who was jailed over an $800,000 tax fraud scheme will lose his Mount Helen property.
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Red Cliffs man Linden Phillips was jailed in August 2023 after pleading guilty to fraud charges, relating to a landscaping business that had "no business activity, no income, no assets, and no expenses," according to the Australian Federal Police.
"The man lodged more than 45 false Business Activity Statements with the ATO between 1 January 2018 and 30 November 2021," the AFP said in a media release.
In total, about $800,000 was scammed, which went towards a second-hand Porsche and the Mount Helen property.
The house was "restrained" by the AFP-led Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce, working with the Australian Taxation Office.
"The restraining order relied upon a suspicion that money from the fraud was used to purchase the property, which is worth an estimated $500,000. It was further alleged the man transferred the fraudulently obtained GST refunds into an account held by a family member, who then transferred the sale amount to a real estate agent. The property was also registered in another person's name," the AFP said.
"The AFP submitted to the County Court of Victoria that the money transfers and ownership details were done to obscure the origin of the purchasing funds and the real ownership of the property."
The house was forfeited by the court and will be sold.
"This case shows that even if people try to obscure the source of their wealth it does not put them out of reach of the criminal justice system,' CACT commander Allison Buck said in a statement.
"Law-abiding Australians work hard to buy their first home: they go to work, they pay their taxes and they save up for a deposit. Criminals flaunt their illicit wealth and try and skip the steps everyone else has to take. This is not on. You will be caught and your access to any illegally purchased assets will be short-lived."
Money from the property's sale will be redistributed by the federal government into "crime prevention, intervention, or diversion programs, or other law enforcement initiatives".
Phillips is serving a seven year and six month prison sentence.
