A South Auckland woman was sentenced to home detention for aiding and abetting tax evasion.
Mele Terepo plead guilty to one representative charge and was sentenced to 11 months home detention when she appeared in the Manukau District court on 5 October 2026.
Terepo has a corporate background working in administrative and managerial roles and set up Wingshead Property Developments Limited (Wingshead) in May 2018 to provide labour hire service for construction projects.
Other family members worked for the company and were in charge of the construction side of the business.
Among other administrative work, Terepo was responsible for the company’s record-keeping and for paying wages.
Inland Revenue started an investigation in July 2024 looking at PAYE filing between October 2020 and March 2023.
Wingshead’s bank statements show that the PAYE and withholding tax filed was substantially less than it ought to have been. The total shortfall was over $606,000.00.
Of the 163 PAYE returns filed during that time, only 15 returns accurately reflected the actual wages paid.
Terepo knowingly provided false, inaccurate, or misleading wage information to Wingshead’s accountant, which meant the PAYE returns were false, inaccurate, or misleading.
She knew the wage amounts were incorrect because she paid employees / contractors and knew the actual wages paid by Wingshead.
The company was put into liquidation in May 2023.