Ms Hall had failed to lodge any business activity statements (BAS) and personal tax returns despite the large cash deposits being made into her company accounts.
On July 6, 2019, police were listening as Mr Kay and Mr Alex discussed the worrying news that law enforcement may be targeting her.
“It’s all good, don’t stress over it … ” said Mr Kay. Four days later Mr Alex spoke to Ibrahim in jail and suggested that maybe there wasn’t anything sinister in the ATO’s actions and maybe it was just because she hadn’t filed her BAS.
“We’re new to this, we’re not used to paying tax,” Ibrahim offered to Mr Alex.
Like his wife Athina and her brother, George Alex, both of whom have been bankrupted, Mr Kay has also had a chequered business career. He was only discharged from bankruptcy last month.
In 2017, a construction management company of which he was a director went down the tube owing creditors more than $19 million. One of the listed creditors was Permaform Concrete which claimed it was owed more than $200,000.
After being bankrupted in 2018, Mr Kay had to relinquish a number of directorships including in Scarecrow Joe’s, a company run by Samier Dandan, the head of the Lebanese Muslim Association. The two men remain shareholders.
Mr Kay was also involved previously in Mr Dandan’s beauty supplements company, Liquipure.
He was granted bail and will face court again on November 23.
The bail conditions include reporting to police three days a week, being of good behaviour, surrendering his passport, not approaching within one kilometre of any international point of departure, not communicating with certain people, and not contacting in any way “any person named in the Australian Federal Police Statement of Facts”.
Mr Kay is only allowed to use one mobile phone number and must provide police with its password, a $25,000 surety must be deposited to ensure he complies with his bail, and he must not “directly or indirectly” control, use or benefit from any of the companies referred to in the police statement of facts.
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