AFP widens Vanuatu investigation

(Business Spectator) Australian Federal Police are investigating at least four more financial services firms with Vanuatu connections for suspected tax evasion and money laundering.
Three directors of NSW accounting firm Owen T Daniel & Co (Carol Abibadra, Deborah Jandagi and Kevin Zerafa) are facing charges that relate to the Project Wickenby taskforce investigation of PKF Vanuatu director Robert Agius, reports say.
The AFP has, reportedly, traced around 50 scheme participants to Owen T Daniel & Co and is expected to allege in court that the company's clients consciously participated in the scheme to avoid paying tax.
The firm is said to be connected to the round-robin scheme, where the AFP alleges the scheme's clients paid an $8000 set-up fee plus annual fees of $US1380 for PKF Vanuatu to allegedly draft false invoices from an overseas-registered company with a NZ bank account.According to police allegations, Australian companies could then write off the invoices charging for consultancy fees, management fees or insurance premiums as tax expenses, reports say.
Mr Agius, who was extradited from Perth to Sydney last night, is preparing to face three charges related to an alleged $100 million money laundering scheme. The scheme is said to have included at least 400 individuals, including a number of prominent local business people.
However, last night the tired looking businessman told reporters at Sydney airport that he was yet to be charged with any offence and was still yet to enter a plea.
According to reports, Port Vila-based financial services firms Equity Investment Group, Moores Rowland and law firm George Vasaris & Co have all under investigation by the taskforce because of alleged connections to Mr Agius.
Equity Investment chief executive Jim Batty called the AFP searches "a contrived fishing expedition" and has joined PKF Vanuatu in challenging the legality of the search warrants used to instigate the raids.
Australian director of another Vanuatu accounting firm which is not under the AFP spotlight Lindsay Barrett echoed Mr Batty's comments, saying that Australian authorities had confused legal tax minimisation practices with tax evasion, The Age reports.
Separately, one of Mr Agius' sons, Daniel, told the paper that Vanuatu Supreme Court has granted an injunction preventing any information being sent out of the country.
"The injunction has been taken out by the partners of PKF on the grounds that the search warrants issued were illegal, that the searches were conducted by Australian police outside their jurisdiction, and therefore the information can't be sent out of the country," he told the paper.
Mr Agius' son said that it was business as usual at the firm, saying that the company's website had not been taken offline, but had probably gone down after receiving a large number of visits.
Meanwhile, PKF Australia has moved to distance itself from PFK Vanuatu saying that under licensing agreement PKF Vanuatu is a member firm of PKF International.
According to PKF Australia, the Vanuatu operation is is locally owned and operated and is completely financially and legally independent of PKF Australia.