An Auckland tiler, with a serious gambling problem, has been sentenced to home detention on tax fraud charges.

Jianbao Lin was sentenced in the Manukau District Court on 1 August 2023 to 11 months home detention with 150 hours community work and ordered to pay $100,000 in reparations.

The sentencing judge accepted Lin has a serious gambling problem, said the fraud was premeditated and long, and told him he had only narrowly avoided prison.

The judge noted the home detention sentence means Lin can continue to work to support his family and repay his tax debts.

Lin was sentenced on 18 charges including evading or attempting to evade the assessment or payment of GST and income tax, and knowingly providing false or misleading information to Inland Revenue to get Working for Families payments.

From 2009 to 2017, Lin used a tax agent to file income tax and GST returns but from around 2015 earned income invoicing in the name of a non-trading company Hui Construction, and using an invalid GST number.

Lin’s invoices for Hui Construction gave the bank account of an associate. He had access to the account and was able to get money out when he needed to. From October 2014 and March 2019 nearly two million dollars was paid into that account. None of this income was returned for income tax and GST purposes.

Inland Revenue’s review of Lin’s personal bank accounts also showed regular cash deposits totalling $240,515 that also hadn’t been returned as income.

Through his actions Lin evaded the assessment and payment of about $700,000 in GST and income tax. The under reporting on personal income meant he received more than $62,000 in Working for Families payments which he was not entitled to.

Lin paid back just over $250,000 prior to sentencing.