Former Channel 7 newsreader goes from mansion to prison
Former socialite and Channel 7 newsreader Simone Semmens who has livedn in some of Melbourne’s most expensive suburbs, will spend the next nine months in the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre after being charged for evading taxes of up to $1.73 million.
The newsreader turned property developer, was given a 34-month sentence on Thursday after County Court judge Scott Johns said 58-year-old Semmens ignored advice from accountants and bank staff who repeatedly told her that GST was owed on the transfer of 10 properties between 2005 and 2011.
"You have your dishonesty but also your stubbornness and intransigence to blame," Judge Johns began.
"There were many stages over the past 15 plus years where you could have taken advice, acted reasonably, acted honestly, listened and negotiated your way through the issue of liability for taxation.
“The evidence in the trial revealed you to be stubborn and steadfast in your insistence that you did know owe GST or any other form of tax."
He further elaborated on Semmens’ “dramatic” fall from grace.
"You've scaled heights you probably only dreamed of as a 16 or 17-year-old trying to make your way in the world.
“No doubt the way down has not been easy. It's in no small part to your resilience and resourcefulness that I consider your prospects for rehabilitation to be excellent."
Semmens will be released in August 2020 on a $1000 good behaviour bond since she has already served time and a non-parole period of 14 months.
The former newsreader bought a Toorak, Melbourne home for $1.1 million.
She also purchased the Portsea mansion Noorah for $7.5 million and paid $7.8 million for the historic Rosecraddock estate in Caulfield North.
It was the house that had seen the horrific murder of former owner and eccentric millionaire Peter Shellard by his former girlfriend and two drug-addled accomplices.
She had Rosecraddock subdivided into seven single properties, demolished the Toorak residence and built two apartments, and had two additional homes built on the Portsea cliff top.
All 10 of the properties were sold for a combined profit of over $4 million, however no GST was paid by Semmens.
She also reneged on payments to tradesmen, suppliers, solicitors and lenders.
Australian Tax Office assistant commissioner Ian Read explained that the sentence handed to Semmens sent a clear message to anyone who try to cheat the system adding tax evasion is not a victimless crime.
“This wasn’t a one-off property sale; this is a case of someone deliberately carrying on an enterprise without meeting their tax obligations.
“There are many TV shows that make flipping properties look like a fun and lucrative thing todo. People also need to be aware of their tax obligations.”
Semmens’ tax misconduct was first revealed in 2011 during an ATO audit.
The Tax Office and Federal Police raided Semmens' Toorak home in 2013.
She was arrested while trying to board a flight to the US in 2015.