Fraudster fights deportation

A Chinese national convicted of a $1.1 million tax fraud is now fighting back against attempts to kick him out of the country.

Jianbin Wang was jailed for three years and nine months in November 2015 after he pleaded guilty to 57 charges connected to tax avoidance involving personal income tax, GST and PAYE obligations related to his former company Top International Trading Ltd.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson confirmed in a written statement that the immigration and protection tribunal heard an appeal last week regarding a deportation order issued to the 48-year-old by Immigration New Zealand.

An Inland Revenue Department (IRD) investigation began in 2012 which looked into Wang’s financial dealings between 2007-2012, where he had only declared an annual income of $30,000.

However, it was calculated he had failed to declare cash sales in excess of $2.5m over the five years he operated the Best for Less Stores in Whanganui, New Plymouth and Waitara. The stores have since been sold.

A claim of more than $50,000 worth of Working for Families tax credits he was not entitled to was also made during the same period.

Despite pleading guilty, Wang had disputed the amount of money IRD said he owed, but after a judgealone trial, a ruling was made that the debt amounted to $1.184m.

Wang’s wife Fenglan Liu was also convicted of 16 charges of aiding another to commit an offence and was jailed for two years and three months. However, her convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal in March 2016 and no re-trial was ordered.

Wang also appealed against his jail term but this was dismissed by the Court of Appeal judges, who described the defendant’s sentence as ‘‘lenient’’.

In February 2017, Wang got out of prison on parole, shortly after he became eligible for release. The parole board reported there had been no issues regarding his compliance or behaviour in prison.

Wang’s lawyer Lars Hansen did not want to comment on the immigration case but said a decision by Judge Peter Spiller, who heard the appeal, was expected within two weeks.