Appearing in the current issue of Australia's BRW ("Business Review Weekly") magazine is the cover story of the Australian Taxation Office's cracking down on tax fraud.
Two high fliers are singled out, a former Assistant Tax Commisiioner and...... a CPA (Public Accountant) well known to JWs in Sydney. Why?
Because the practice is staffed and run by JWs, some of them quite prominent in dub circles!
For many years now pioneers who are accountants (or nearly so!) have been able to get part-time work at the practice.
It has very close connections with the Australia Branch Office and is situated in Liverpool, an outer Sydney suburb neighbouring the suburb with Bethel.
Here's what BRW says:
"Sam Cassaniti is before a jury on criminal charges more than 10 years after ATO and law-enforcement authorities first began to investigate his alleged mishandling of tax returns filed in the names of his clients. The combative Sydney accountant has pleaded not guilty in the District Court of New South Wales to 23 charges of tax fraud and one charge of attempted fraud..........................On one occasion, his home and office were raided by almost 40 officers.........The Commonwealth director of public prosecutions (DPP) alleges that cassaniti filed false tax returns in the names of his clients without their knowledge and kept the refunds.......Cassaniti has mounted an amazing resistance to ATO investigations over the years and has mounted a barrage of written complaints about his alleged harassment. And he has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal actions against the ATO and its officers."
(BRW September 8 - 14, 2005 issue)
Imagine that - it's been going on for ten years! I wonder how many dubs in Sydney knew of this?
If you want to see more, try this: http://www.brw.com.au/