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Otago rugby doctor sentenced on tax charges
Asheer Singh was sentenced in the Dunedin District Court on August 30 on charges of aiding and abetting his medical company to provide false or misleading information, intending to evade the assessment or payment of GST (13 charges) and income tax (2 charges).
Singh is the team doctor for the Highlanders rugby team and works as a GP in Dunedin as well as working for Otago rugby.
In February 2021, Singh was randomly selected for audit as an initial review of his company showed it had only returned a profit of $23,000 for the 2020 tax year. The review raised serious concerns around whether he had declared all of his income.
Also of interest was how he had been able to introduce large amounts of money to the company Dr A Singh Ltd (DASL) and how he had funded $1.4m in property purchases.
There were also concerns about certain expense claims made by DASL.
Inland Revenue received a letter from Singh about omitted income for 2019, 2020 and 2021 and $118,948.13. Despite the voluntary disclosure, IR decided to continue with the audit.
During the audit, IR discovered a further $94,921.34 that had not been declared including payments from Otago Rugby, the Highlanders and from a medical practice.
Based on the low income tax returns, Singh also received more than $22,000 in Working for Families which he was not entitled to and failed to meet more than $20,000 in student loan repayments – together totalling $42,921.34.
Singh applied for discharge without conviction, but it was refused because of a lack of evidence of consequences of a conviction.
Judge Robinson held the offending was serious and the consequences of conviction are only moderate.
From a starting point of 18 months imprisonment the judge allowed 40% discount for the guilty plea, remorse, character, and reparation and ended up with a sentence of 5 months home detention plus 200 hours Community Work.
Last updated:
02 Sep 2024