Colin David Rath bought a 28-hectare North Canterbury vineyard in 2018. (file image) Photo: RNZ / Tracy Neal
A former New York property developer has been sentenced on 41 charges relating to tax fraud totalling more than $1.5m.
Colin David Rath came to New Zealand on an entrepreneur residency visa in 2016, and bought a 28-hectare North Canterbury vineyard, Fiddler's Green, two years later.
Over a four-year period from 2017 to 2021, Rath filed fraudulent goods and services tax (GST) returns worth $1,506,833.81 for two companies related to the vineyard, Waipara Winds Limited and New York Grape Escape.
Rath told Inland Revenue in his April 2021 return he spent $1.6m on a spec house, a subdivision and work on a bed and breakfast.
But when investigators visited the property, they discovered the spec house belonged to someone else.
The building company named in the contract confirmed it had done work for Rath, but it had not built a spec house for him, nor had it been paid for the work it had done on Rath's property.
At Christchurch District Court on Wednesday, he was sentenced to three years and seven months in prison on two representative charges of using forged documents and 39 charges of dishonestly using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage.
In a statement, Inland Revenue said it took the integrity of the tax system seriously and would apply all available recovery options where dishonesty has led to serious loss to New Zealanders.
It confirmed none of the defrauded funds had yet been recovered.
But a spokesperson said Rath's vineyard was up for sale and the proceeds would go towards paying it back.