Michael Phillip Ivanoff has been gaoled for three months by Justice Dowsett of the Federal Court for failing to comply with orders obtained by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in relation to a Goods and Services Tax scam.
Ivanoff and his company Australian Taxation Information Services Pty Ltd, trading as Australian Taxation Services (ATS), were found to be in contempt of Court. Justice Dowsett also fined ATS $5,000 and ordered Ivanoff and the company to pay the ACCC's costs of the contempt proceedings.
On 16 July 1999 Justice Kiefel of the Federal Court granted the ACCC orders against Ivanoff and ATS restraining them from sending, providing or furnishing to any person a form styled to look like an Australian Taxation Office form.
Those orders resulted from a form distributed by ATS, the GST Application For Registration, which was sent to some 20,000 small businesses asking them to pay $175 for one years' registration or $295 for two years' registration. Businesses were misled into believing ATS was associated with or was itself the Australian Taxation Office and these payments were necessary to register under the GST.
Justice Kiefel also ordered ATS and Ivanoff to write to all businesses sent the original form informing them that ATS had no association with the Australian Taxation Office and that the service being provided by ATS was an information service which was not endorsed, sponsored or approved in any way by the Australian Taxation Office. The letter was also required to state that there was no legal requirement to register with ATS and that the Court had ordered that any monies paid would be returned. The orders required Ivanoff and ATS to send the letters by 23 July 1999.
Ivanoff and ATS failed to send the letters and that failure formed the basis of the contempt proceedings.
The Court orders of 16 July 1999 ensured that the ACCC took possession of any cheques forwarded to ATS and the ACCC has been returning them to the senders.
So far the ACCC has returned more than $215,000 to small businesses tricked by this scam. The failure of Ivanoff and ATS to obey the Court orders has resulted in cheques being sent to the company well after the Court orders to close the scam down and has required the ACCC to continue interception and return of cheques.
On 7 May 1999, in a separate case, the Federal Court gaoled Grant Hudson of Goldstar Corporation Pty Ltd for six months after the ACCC proved contempt of Court.
"These cases clearly show that the Court is determined to have its orders obeyed and that respondents in trade practices cases ignore Court orders at their peril," ACCC Chairman, Professor Allan Fels said today.
"For its part, the ACCC is determined to stop these scams and will vigorously pursue appropriate action where Court orders are ignored". Further information
Ivanoff and his company Australian Taxation Information Services Pty Ltd, trading as Australian Taxation Services (ATS), were found to be in contempt of Court. Justice Dowsett also fined ATS $5,000 and ordered Ivanoff and the company to pay the ACCC's costs of the contempt proceedings.
On 16 July 1999 Justice Kiefel of the Federal Court granted the ACCC orders against Ivanoff and ATS restraining them from sending, providing or furnishing to any person a form styled to look like an Australian Taxation Office form.
Those orders resulted from a form distributed by ATS, the GST Application For Registration, which was sent to some 20,000 small businesses asking them to pay $175 for one years' registration or $295 for two years' registration. Businesses were misled into believing ATS was associated with or was itself the Australian Taxation Office and these payments were necessary to register under the GST.
Justice Kiefel also ordered ATS and Ivanoff to write to all businesses sent the original form informing them that ATS had no association with the Australian Taxation Office and that the service being provided by ATS was an information service which was not endorsed, sponsored or approved in any way by the Australian Taxation Office. The letter was also required to state that there was no legal requirement to register with ATS and that the Court had ordered that any monies paid would be returned. The orders required Ivanoff and ATS to send the letters by 23 July 1999.
Ivanoff and ATS failed to send the letters and that failure formed the basis of the contempt proceedings.
The Court orders of 16 July 1999 ensured that the ACCC took possession of any cheques forwarded to ATS and the ACCC has been returning them to the senders.
So far the ACCC has returned more than $215,000 to small businesses tricked by this scam. The failure of Ivanoff and ATS to obey the Court orders has resulted in cheques being sent to the company well after the Court orders to close the scam down and has required the ACCC to continue interception and return of cheques.
On 7 May 1999, in a separate case, the Federal Court gaoled Grant Hudson of Goldstar Corporation Pty Ltd for six months after the ACCC proved contempt of Court.
"These cases clearly show that the Court is determined to have its orders obeyed and that respondents in trade practices cases ignore Court orders at their peril," ACCC Chairman, Professor Allan Fels said today.
"For its part, the ACCC is determined to stop these scams and will vigorously pursue appropriate action where Court orders are ignored". Further information