Tax scam run from Rimutaka Prison

A man serving a life sentence for the murder of Wellington schoolboy Jeff Whittington has admitted committing fraud while in Rimutaka Prison.

Jason Morris Meads, 33, appeared in Wellington District Court yesterday charged with defrauding the Inland Revenue Department of $17,000.

He entered a guilty plea on the day his week-long jury trial was due to start and was sentenced to two years and two months' imprisonment, to be served concurrently with his life term.

His earliest parole date is December 2009.

The case follows revelations that Rimutaka Prison inmates used smuggled cellphones to arrange to import $1 million worth of methamphetamine from Thailand this year.

Corrections has moved to block cellphones from prisons, but in this case, there was nothing they could have done to prevent Meads' fraud unless it received a complaint.

Meads was 25 when he and Stephen James Smith, 27, kicked the schoolboy to death near Aro St in 1999.

A witness at their trial said the two had boasted that they had beaten up "a faggot".

The boy had dyed his hair purple and had painted his fingernails green.

In the dock yesterday, Meads wore a white shirt and black tracksuit pants.

In a quiet voice, he repeated "guilty" to 13 counts of forgery and dishonest use of a document committed about November 2003.

As a result of the fraud, the department paid a total of $17,191 to Meads - $6390 in personal cheques posted to an address outside prison, and the rest as a credit to his student loan account and other accounts.

Inland Revenue began investigating Meads in early 2005 and obtained a warrant to search his cell, where they found evidence of his fraud.

Defence lawyer Simon Hewson said Meads was one of several prisoners involved in such fraud.

He had not received any pecuniary gain - the money from the cheques had not gone to him, and the IRD would reverse any credits to his accounts.

While in prison, Meads had completed School Certificate, University Entrance and begun tertiary studies, completing two papers in psychology with a 94 per cent average.

"While his involvement in these charges may not reflect this, he intends to live a crime-free life on release," Mr Hewson said.

"He intends to make sure he has a good start."

Prosecutor Richard Laurenson said the fraud was clever offending and though others must have assisted Meads in committing the fraud, he was a primary offender.

The community expected a prisoner was in prison to serve a sentence, not commit further crimes, he said.

That the crimes were committed in prison made them more serious.

Corrections acting assistant operations general manager Karen Urwin said preventing prisoners from conducting illegal activities was a top priority.

The department was building an intelligence group to crack down on criminal activities in prisons.

- © Fairfax NZ News