Orthodox church priest one of three men jailed for trying to defraud the Australian Tax Office

Mark Oberhardt
The Courier-Mail
24/6/2011

AN orthodox church priest was one of three men jailed for their roles in bogus schemes intended to defraud the Australian Tax Office of revenue.

After a protracted Supreme Court trial in Brisbane, which started in February, Stephen Brian Cox, John Reginald Cuffe, and Peter James Morrison were found guilty of conspiring to defraud the Commonwealth between May 1, 1999 and February 6, 2001.

Cox, an alleged major player, was jailed for nine years and 11 months, with a non-parole period of three years and four months.

However, Cox’s sentence will not start until the end of September when he completes an unrelated sentence from the District Court.

Cuffe, a priest of the Orthodox Catholic Church, and Morrison, a former company manager, were both jailed for six years, with a non-parole period of three years.

Justice George Fryberg heard submissions on sentence last month and passed sentence this morning.

However, his written judgment will not be available to the public until later.

The trial and then sentence process ran so long that the prosecutor Gary Long was unavailable today because he has been made a District Court judge.

The trial heard allegations the trio played various roles in promoting the idea of minimising tax, which the crown said were fraudulent .

The schemes promised capital investment, with future cash flow while at the same time minimising tax paid.

The trial heard the schemes suggested borrowing money, ranging from tens of thousands of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and securing the loans with life bonds or insurance policies.

The trial heard the scheme involved three main areas – retirement village joint ventures, employee welfare funds, and donations to an Orthodox Catholic church college building fund at Caboolture, on Brisbane’s northern outskirts.

The crown would alleged the schemes were supported by false documents when in fact there were no investments or lending companies.

Cox was linked to a company involved with the schemes and was based at Milton in Brisbane’s inner west.

Cuffe was associated with the church at Caboolture and Morrison was at one time the company’s office manager.

The trial heard the Orthodox Catholic Church at Caboolture was not associated with the traditional Catholic Church.

Source: