A regional accountant in New South Wales has been found guilty of misappropriating over $900,000 from clients over a three-year period. The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) conducted an investigation into Randolf Rindfleish, who operated out of Coolah. The investigation revealed that Rindfleish diverted Australian Taxation Office (ATO) refunds from 58 clients between July 2020 and September 2023 into bank accounts he controlled.

Rindfleish executed the fraud by submitting false business activity statements, income tax returns, and JobKeeper forms using the tax agent numbers of two firms where he was employed. The TPB reported that he targeted 22 clients at Coolah Tax and Accounting, stealing nearly $150,000 from them between April 3 and September 22, 2023. Additionally, he misappropriated more than $750,000 from 49 clients at Wollongong Business Accountants (WBA) from July 2, 2020, to March 27, 2023.

Denis Yeo, the director and supervising agent for both firms during this time, failed to implement adequate controls, violating the Code of Professional Conduct under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009. As a result, the TPB has banned Yeo from registering as a tax agent for three years and has shut down Coolah Tax and Accounting due to serious supervisory breaches that allowed Rindfleish to exploit the tax system for an extended period. WBA, however, has retained its registration since neither Yeo nor Rindfleish is currently associated with it, and the new director was unaware of their actions.

Although Rindfleish was not a registered tax agent, TPB chair Peter de Cure stated that this was not a significant concern. "The staff of a registered company are not all required to be registered. But any company with a registration has to have adequate supervision and control provided by registered agents," he explained.

The TPB's authority is limited to imposing sanctions on registered agents. The board acknowledged that victims of the fraud faced "significant adverse impacts," but de Cure did not provide details on potential compensation from the firm's professional indemnity insurance. "You've got a set of circumstances where, one your money's gone missing, and two you're in trouble with the ATO … so you can imagine the level of stress that would cause," he said.

The TPB emphasized its commitment to a zero-tolerance policy for misconduct that threatens the integrity of the tax system. "The TPB considered that it must take a very firm approach in cases of this nature to send a clear message to the practitioner community," the board stated. Yeo's cooperation and expressed remorse led to a reduced penalty, mitigating his ban from a possible five years, according to de Cure.

A spokesperson for the New South Wales Police confirmed awareness of the fraud but did not disclose whether a criminal investigation into Rindfleish was underway.