Debra Lee Monteith was sentenced to 11 months home detention on a single charge of aiding and abetting her company at the Invercargill District Court earlier this week. Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer
A Southland woman whose business received more than $780,000 in Covid support money has been sentenced to home detention after failing to pay income tax.
Debra Lee Monteith was charged after her company stopped paying PAYE over a nearly three year period with more than $800,000 unaccounted for.
Her company, Lee 19, catered for the Ministry of Education's school lunch programme and at a local meat processing plant.
She was registered as an employer in 2019, but in the following year, several employees alerted Inland Revenue about unpaid KiwiSaver deductions.
She did not file PAYE returns until 2020 when seven PAYE periods were returned at the same time to a tune of close to $83,000.
They were immediately due but Monteith entered an instalment arrangement to pay the debt.
It was cancelled due to missed payments in 2022.
The company stopped paying PAYE between March 2021 and February 2024 - a month before Lee 19 was placed into liquidation.
Monteith said the money was used to keep her company afloat and cover food costs.
Inland Revenue said her company was receiving significant taxpayer support while failing to meet its own tax obligations.
While she was not taking a salary, she benefited by more than $300,000 between 2020 and 2024.
"Her personal expenses were paid out of the company's finances and her groceries were taken from the company's pantry," a spokesperson said.
Monteith was sentenced to 11 months home detention on a single charge of aiding and abetting her company at the Invercargill District Court earlier this week.
She was made bankrupt in 2013 and had run four other companies since the 1980s.
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