Now on parole near the end of his four year nine month term of imprisonment for tax fraud, Peter Coleman failed in his second challenge to conviction but an unusual series of events does leave open a belated appeal against sentence.
Auckland-based accountant Peter Martin Coleman was convicted in 2019 on tax charges including tax evasion, forgery and GST fraud. These charges arose from his management of businesses in the fishing industry between 2011 and 2016 and his attempts to book personal expenses as tax deductible expenses.
His GST convictions were reversed on appeal on grounds of incompetence by his then trial lawyer. The remaining charges were upheld on appeal. Inland Revenue suffered losses of some $800,000.
Coleman asked the Court of Appeal to allow a second appeal in respect of those convictions upheld at his first appeal. There had been a miscarriage of justice at the original trial, he said. The outcome would have been different of Inland Revenue staff had been called to give evidence and put under cross-examination.
The Court of Appeal ruled there had been no miscarriage. Whatever the errors of his trial lawyer, there was ample evidence to support the remaining convictions.
There was clear evidence of forgery in Coleman leaving a trail of ‘cut and paste’ altered invoices when making a false GST claim. He represented his home as being part of a farm stay business, when it was not. And there was evidence of tax evasion in his failing to file income tax returns for some two decades. Coleman’s claim that cash receipts were not income but loans from his business interests was not supported by any evidence.
In the course of his court hearing seeking a second appeal, it became apparent some confusion followed his first appeal; both the judge hearing his first appeal and Inland Revenue assumed Coleman had abandoned an appeal against sentence when in fact it had been overlooked; it was never properly dealt with.
Coleman can return to the High Court and reopen legal argument appealing his sentence of imprisonment if he wishes, the Court of Appeal ruled.
Coleman is currently on parole. His sentence of imprisonment expires in June 2024.
Coleman v. Inland Revenue – Court of Appeal (19.10.23)
23.179