Home time for cop

A former Auckland cop has narrowly avoided prison after dodging nearly $300,000 in tax, while also trying to hide details of his offending, the Herald on Sunday can reveal.

Gregory Raymond Fallon, 42, was convicted and sentenced in the Auckland District Court by Judge Nicola Mathers to nine months’ home detention and 150 hours’ community work.

To avoid a prison term, the starting point set by Judge Mathers, the ex-constable relied heavily on his previous good standing and his early guilty plea to 44 charges of tax evasion. The maximum penalty was a five-year prison stint.

Fallon’s police career, served over two separate periods, was largely as a member of the Eagle helicopter crew and on police motorbikes.

He first made headlines in 2003 as one of two officers to leap from the helicopter to save a drowning couple, near Rangitoto Island. He has also been credited with saving “many lives” as a surf lifesaver and placed his police career on hold to help with the Christchurch earthquake rebuild.

The Herald on Sunday can now reveal he has twice failed to pay large sums of tax owed by his two companies. The total amount evaded during his 27 months of offending was just over $283,600.

He was sole director and shareholder of Asbestos Management New Zealand Ltd, incorporated on June 8, 2015.

As police and the Herald on Sunday learned of Fallon’s offending, both sought access to court documents — but Fallon objected.

A police employment investigation due to commence following the court proceedings was cancelled because of Fallon’s resignation.

He now works as a motorcycle instructor.