18 July 2024

An Auckland couple have each been sentenced to three years in prison on tax evasion charges.

Mohammed Naseeb and Rehana Ali were sentenced in the Manukau District Court on July 17, 2024, on multiple charges of personal income tax and GST evasion, as well as income tax and GST evasion and failures to account for PAYE for their company Supreme Constructions Civil & Drainage Works Company Limited.  

Their business activities were primarily housing construction.

During a judge alone trial, Naseeb and Ali were found guilty of jointly committing all 69 tax related offences for which they were charged. The offending occurred over a six-year period between 2010 and 2015.  

Judge Andrée Wiltens found that the overall evasion of income tax and GST amounted to about $750,000, with a further $80,000 in unaccounted for PAYE. After some PAYE payments were made, the total loss was about $800,000.

The Judge described it as very deliberate offending in which business income was underreported for the pair, and also within Supreme when it was later registered, through them filing false returns.

Naseeb and Ali also failed to file outstanding tax returns once under investigation.

During the Inland Revenue investigation, they only gave their accountant a small amount of the information required to be given to Inland Revenue and concealed the existence of further highly relevant bank accounts.  

At trial the Judge found the pair equally culpable. He said they both decided not to comply with their tax obligations and made no genuine efforts to pay their tax.

He concluded Naseeb and Ali were evasive, including during voluntary interviews, and such co-operation as there was with the investigation was delayed, only partial, and inaccurate.

Judge Andrée Wiltens did not accept that there was no personal gain to Naseeb and Ali. There was significant spending in their bank accounts on things like jewellery, high-end clothing stores, beauty salon visits etc. He said they used this money at the expense of the NZ taxpayer.

The judge acknowledged that while the prosecution was a drain on Naseeb and Ali for 7 years, it was primarily their own fault because they had challenged everything “to the nth degree”.

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