A former Dunedin lawyer who did not turn up yesterday for the start of her five-day trial has been found guilty on all 46 charges of tax evasion involving more than $180,000.
Despite accused Raelene Marie Kelly (55) emailing a letter of explanation, claiming a ''moderate to severe anxiety disorder'', Judge Paul Kellar noted there was no supporting medical evidence and went ahead with the trial.
Five days had been set aside, but the trial was over by mid-afternoon.
Kelly was formally called to the stand, but did not appear, nor was there any legal counsel representing her in court, nor any evidence submitted on her behalf.
In March, when the charges were laid in the Dunedin District Court, Kelly had denied the charges of evading paying GST or PAYE.
Judge Kellar said the charges were ''relatively serious'', noting the maximum penalty for each charge was up to five years' jail and/or a fine of up to $50,000, and Kelly was therefore ''required to be present''.
Given her absence, which meant no time had to be set aside for defence argument, Judge Kellar sped up proceedings and called witnesses early.
Stacks of invoices were treated as ''representative'' instead of having each one read out verbatim by witnesses.
The charges stem from when Kelly was sole director and shareholder of legal services company Kelly Chambers Ltd in Dunedin.
The company was incorporated in November 2010 and placed in liquidation by Inland Revenue in August 2014 over ''outstanding tax obligations''.
Prosecutor for Inland Revenue David Tasker yesterday alleged Kelly was ''aiding and abetting'' the company Kelly Chambers Ltd in applying PAYE deductions ''other than payment'' to the department and did ''knowingly not furnish'' GST returns.
Fifteen charges covered two-monthly intervals from March 2011 to July 2013 when no GST returns were filed, totalling $122,363.
Another 31 charges covered PAYE and KiwiSaver deductions from employees, from June 2011 to December 2013, amounting to $60,993.
Judge Kellar noted Kelly's email had not sought an adjournment.
To do so would have meant a new trial would be ''some time away'', and ''a great inconvenience'' to all involved, given the matter already had a ''protracted history'', he said.
Mr Tasker said accountancy firm Deloitte had worked for Kelly, sending monthly email reminders to file her returns.
Separately, she told Inland Revenue she was working with Deloitte to sort out issues, but it was ''all a pattern of evasiveness'', he said.
He noted there had been a change of shareholding in Kelly Chambers Ltd, lodged by Kelly with the Companies Office in September 2013, transferring her holding to a Gregory Chambers, domiciled in Australia.
''No-one has ever heard of Gregory Chambers ... it was unusual and inexplicable he took over.''
Mr Tasker said said Inland Revenue could not find any records of Mr Chambers, and a Sydney street address in Surrey Hills turned out to be a large multi-apartment complex.
''It does appear the defendant [Kelly] divested responsibility to someone else, and evaded [it] herself''.
Mr Tasker said he had bank statements to show how the money was spent, both on the company and also by herself ''quite readily ... it's not unfair to say lavish spending''.
He had 10 witnesses, including Dunedin lawyers Fraser Goldsmith, Susie Staley and Sally McMillan representing three city law firms who each furnished ''bundles'' of invoices from Kelly Chambers Ltd, providing evidence that GST had been paid for services.
Mr Tasker's other witnesses included Deloitte staff, two former employees of Kelly Chambers Ltd and three Inland Revenue staff, including an investigator.
Judge Kellar, having noted the hundreds of documents presented as exhibits, said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt the charges had been proved. Kelly was convicted on each charge and will be sentenced on October14.
