Accountants convicted of offshore tax scams BY: LEO SHANAHAN From: The Australia

ROBERT Agius, the former Vanuatu-based chartered accountant arrested in a crackdown on offshore tax avoidance, was found guilty of defrauding the commonwealth in Sydney yesterday.

Agius and Kevin Zerafa, a former employee of a Sydney accountancy firm, were both convicted of tax avoidance charges after a trial that lasted almost five months.

The two men worked with the late Sydney accountant Owen Trevor Daniel on a tax avoidance scheme for companies. It involved false invoices for management fees, consulting services and insurance premiums to non-existent companies in overseas tax havens.

Lawyers for Zerafa had argued that as he was 23 at the time, he was acting under the influence of Daniel's personality.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict on two of the co-accused and former employees of the firm, Carol Abibadra and Deborah Jandagi. Ms Jandagi is the daughter of the late Daniel, who played a key role in creating the tax avoidance scheme.


According to commonwealth prosecutor Peter Neil SC, the scheme relied on tax returns that "contained false information about non-existent expenses and disguised the true nature of the monies brought into Australia".

The jury heard money would be returned to business owners through payments of $50,000 of cash in brown paper bags by Agius's best friend, Arthur Isbester. Isbester was recently convicted for his role.

Agius and Zerafa will return to the NSW Supreme Court next weekfor sentencing submissions.