Almost seven years after it was first brought to light, the last player in Australia’s biggest-ever tax-fraud scandal has been sentenced to an extended prison term.

Christopher Guillan, 36, received four and a half years behind bars with a non-parole period of 2 years and 3 months in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday.

He is the fifteenth person to be sentenced over what became known as the Plutus case, having pleaded guilty to two counts of dealing with proceeds of crime.

Chief of the ATO-led Serious Financial Crime Taskforce John Ford said  the sentence brings an end to the biggest tax fraud in Australia’s history.

“It was a blatant attempt to rob the Australian community of money that could otherwise be invested in community services such as health and education,” he said.

“For those that think they can hide their illegal income, it’s only a matter of time before you are caught.”

$105 million jackpot

The scheme involved a syndicate using Plutus Payroll and other payroll services companies to divert taxes owed to the ATO using a network of second-tier companies headed by straw directors.

By the time the fraud was exposed in May 2017, it had managed to siphon funds to the tune of $105 million.

Two key operators of the scheme, Adam Cranston and Jason Onley were both sentenced to 15 years jail in August last year, with non-parole periods of 10 years.

Considered one of the architects of the tax fraud, Cranston was responsible for the management of second tier companies, while Onley helped to manage the companies and conceal the scheme from authorities.

Cranston is the son of former deputy tax commissioner Michael Cranston, who was cleared of any involvement in the scheme in 2019.

Guillan’s role involved finding a dummy director for Plutus in March 2017, collecting consultancy fees as he advised how to wind the company up in a doomed bid to avoid detection, a court heard last year.

AFP Commander Kate Ferry also issued a warning to potential cheats and applauded the hard work of all those who worked on the case.

“Tax cheats cannot evade law enforcement forever and will not be rewarded for their greedy actions,” she said.

-AAP