An Auckland man has been sentenced to intense supervision and community detention on fraud charges involving the Small Business Cashflow scheme (SBCS).
The SBCS was rolled out on a ‘high trust’ model to ensure small business owners who were in financial distress because of COVID-19 could access funds quickly.
Blair James Pitcaithly was sentenced in the Auckland District Court on 18 February on three charges brought by Inland Revenue and 29 other charges brought by the police and the Crown.
The Inland Revenue charges were 2 involving the SBCS and one income tax charge. He was sentenced to 6 months community detention as well as 12 months intense supervision, which includes a curfew.
Pitcaithly fraudulently sought to obtain $117,800 from IRD but only $23,600 was actually paid out.