TE NUPEPA O TE TAIRAWHITI SATURDAY-SUNDAY, MARCH 27-28, 2021 HOME-DELIVERED $1.90, RETAIL $2.70 ‘RIVERS’ PAGE 2 REFLOAT EFFORT FAILS OF WATER INSIDE TODAY SUEZ CANAL TRAFFIC ABOVE US JAM UP TO 200 SHIPS PAGE 16 GUILTY Farmer’s $17.4m GST fraud scam ‘crude but effective’ MATAWAI farmer John Richard Bracken the IRD, sparked automatically when BEL has been found guilty of New Zealand’s sought refunds for more than $1 million, biggest ever tax fraud — a scam that paid also failed to detect any wrongdoing, the him $17.4 million in GST refunds to which judge said. he was not entitled. The banking transactions Bracken carried Justice Graham Lang delivered his out were circular ones simulating payments reserved decision in the High Court at for purchases that in reality never occurred. Gisborne yesterday, having presided earlier The Crown described the transactions as this month over Bracken’s judge-alone trial, a “money go round”. which ran to eight days. Bracken would withdraw cash or a bank The judge convicted Bracken, 54, on all cheque in his or BEL’s name then rebank 39 charges he faced of dishonestly using a the money into the account so its balance document for a pecuniary advantage. effectively remained the same. The Gisborne Herald In the earlier years, he understands the case is the made an effort to hide largest tax fraud in New The Gisborne Herald the circular nature of the Zealand history, the next transactions, often depositing involving a comparatively understands the more money than he withdrew. mere $3.5m. case is the largest But in later years, he Each of the charges related tax fraud in New generally deposited the exact to GST returns for separate same amount. GST periods over four years Zealand history, The false invoices were between July 1, 2014, and the next involving a created by two women in July 31, 2018. comparatively mere Auckland. One was a teller The offending was not at an ANZ bank branch he related to his Matawai $3.5m. frequented. The other claimed farming operation, which to be his lover. Her reporting investigators found to be of the invoices to the Serious operating legitimately, but to Fraud Office led to Bracken’s a merchandising and exporting arm of BEL undoing. Bracken operated from out of town, mainly Some invoices were based on those he got Auckland, selling timber and other items to from suppliers with which he legitimately the Pacific Islands. dealt, including some who considered him a Gisborne accountancy firm Bain and close friend. But many of the invoices were Sheppard unwittingly prepared BEL’s GST from companies with which he only ever returns with reference to falsified invoices made initial inquiries but which issued him submitted to them by Bracken to reflect pro forma (example) invoices. banking transactions he manipulated to The evidence was clear that “a very large simulate false purchases and export sales. number” of fake transactions were recorded IMPRISONMENT INEVITABLE: Justice Lang said Bracken’s scheme was in this way, Justice Lang said. Matawai farmer John Bracken (pictured) “crude but effective”. During the offence period, Bracken falsely was warned by a High Court judge when he first appeared on tax fraud The accountants did not detect any claimed BEL purchased product totalling charges that a prison term was inevitable if found guilty. Yesterday, another anomaly because the bank records matched more than $133m and that it exported judge, Justice Graham Lang, reinforced that after delivering a guilty the invoices provided to them for each virtually all of it — more than $132m worth. verdict in a reserved decision following an eight-day trial at which Bracken period of taxable activity. represented himself. Bracken will be sentenced on May 11. Furthermore, two verification checks by CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 Picture by Paul Rickard choice Tell us here » www.gdc.govt.nz Submissions close on 23 April 2021 2021-2031 Long Term Plan 38780-01 Paper version available. Please call 0800 653 800. GISBORNE RUATORIA WAIROA Local News ...... 1-5 Opinion ........ 12-13 Business ...... 19-20 Television ....W9-11 Births & Deaths ...4 World............ 14-17 Racing ................21 Sport ............ 28-32 TOMORROW National .......... 6-11 Farming ..............18 Classifieds ... 22-27 Weather .............31 977 1175467004 2 NEWS The Gisborne Herald • Saturday, March 27, 2021 RIVERS IN THE SKY ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS: An image from the Himawari-8 satellite in August of last year shows atmospheric rivers on either side of Australia and one hitting the North Island of New Zealand. Research has found that nine out of the 10 costliest floods in New Zealand coincided with the presence of atmospheric rivers. Picture supplied by Matai O’Connor water causes downfall. “This led me to look at atmospheric associated with the West Coast so to When these systems hit a mountain, or rivers in this part of the world because it see them over places like Gisborne, NEW RESEARCH has found eight a cold front, or something that causes rain is so understudied. Christchurch and Dunedin was quite of Gisborne’s heaviest rainfall events to fall, they release a massive amount of I’m working with Dr Andrew King surprising.” between 1980 and 2019 occurred at the water. who was looking at extreme rainfall and The term atmospheric rivers was coined same time an “atmospheric river” was Research conducted and recorded by flooding at a seasonal level. But before we in the 1990s in the United States. An present over New Zealand. the Australian Research Council Centre can forecast we needed to know what was atmospheric river that goes from Hawaii Learning how these atmospheric rivers of Excellence for Climate Extremes, happening so we were doing the impact to California was discovered and named work could help forecast heavy rain in collaboration with researchers studies before the forecasting. We need to the Pineapple Express. events, says Kimberly Reid, the lead from National Institute of Water and learn how they work before anything else. Ms Reid did not know about author of a research paper released earlier Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and the “These forecasts would be helpful for atmospheric rivers until she started her this month. University of Oxford has found that nine emergency management and farmers. If Masters in atmospheric science in 2017. An atmospheric river is a region of out of 10 of the costliest floods in New they knew there could be a large rainfall “I had completed an undergrad and strong horizontal water motion in the Zealand coincided with atmospheric rivers. event at this time, then they could prepare never came across these things. A lot of atmosphere. Ms Reid, a PHD student at the for it.” the research is concentrated in the US It is usually 2000km long and 1000km University of Melbourne, has been An interesting part of the research was and a bit is in Europe. We are only just wide and transports 250 kilograms working on the research paper since the the shape and location of atmospheric starting to delve into atmospheric rivers of water per metre, per second — the end of 2019. rivers, Ms Reid said. in the Southern Hemisphere. equivalent of two Amazon rivers. “My Masters was on the northwest “Typically, atmospheric rivers are “It’s a cool area to be in because there At any time, there are six or seven cloud band, which is an atmospheric river thought of as long and horizontal but they hasn’t been much research done so there present in the Earth’s atmosphere. that starts in the Indian Ocean and goes can combine with low pressure systems, is a lot to explore,” she said. Atmospheric rivers occur in the lower all the way across the desert in Australia so they bend around and can end up over part of the atmosphere — one to two which made me look into atmospheric places on the East Coast. ■ People wanting to read the research paper kilometres above the ground and the rivers generally in my PhD,” she said. “Atmospheric rivers are usually can access it at tinyurl.com/9bryz9ej LOOKING AHEAD Get your ALL THE LATEST NEWS, INCLUDING: Gisborne Herald • People get to have their say as a series of Long-Term Plan home-delivered community meetings start on the East Coast. • Let’s Dance. Ten pairs are putting in the hard yards on the training stage to be ready for the Dancing for Life Education spectacular. • Coverage of Ruatoria Aero Club’s 60th commemorations — a celebration of aviation on the Coast. • The netball cobwebs are blown off at the annual, season-opening Kathleen Henderson Memorial tourney. MONDAY The Gisborne Herald, 64 Gladstone Road, P.O. Box 1143, Gisborne • Phone (06) 869 0600 • Fax (Editorial) (06) 869 0643 (Advertising) (06) 869 0644 Editor: Jeremy Muir • Chief Reporter: Andrew Ashton • Circulation: Cara Haines • Sports: Jack Malcolm/John Gillies To fi nd out more call 869 0620 e-mail: [email protected] • [email protected] • [email protected] • web site: www.gisborneherald.co.nz The Gisborne Herald • Saturday, March 27, 2021 NEWS 3 Women’s evidence key to case: Justice FROM PAGE 1 suppliers from whom Bracken ostensibly to have involved genuine suppliers, not made more than $133m worth of interviewed by the IRD. New Zealand Customs records however, purchases. But in those instances where he found showed BEL had only ever exported goods Many of those suppliers who gave some allegations not proved, he was totalling about $478,000. evidence during the judge-alone trial, said satisfied the Crown could point to other Using the invoices supported by the they had never met, let alone traded with aspects of the tax return in question bank transactions, Bracken (through his Bracken.