A SYDNEY lawyer has been found guilty of conspiring with his client Glenn Wheatley to conceal income from a Kostya Tszyu world title fight in order to avoid tax.
A Victorian Supreme Court jury yesterday found Paul John Gregory, 60, guilty of conspiring to cause a risk of loss to the Commonwealth by hiding offshore $400,000 Mr Wheatley had earned promoting a world title fight between Tszyu and Jesse James Leija in Melbourne in 2003.
The jury, which deliberated for a day before returning its verdicts, found Gregory had participated in a scheme to pay the amount to a fake company, called Overseas Promotions Inc, as its pretend share of the Tszyu promotion.
The money was transferred into an offshore account kept for Mr Wheatley by two men who ran British Channel Islands-based accountancy firm Strachans, Philip Egglishaw and Philip de Figueiredo.
Gregory acted as a conduit to Egglishaw and de Figueiredo, who took a 15 per cent cut for handling the funds.