ATO helps family of gangland killer Carl Williams to keep million dollar home
Accountant Filomena Kyriacou is being sued for $3m in unpaid tax
She’s the accountant being sued for a massive amount of unpaid tax -- but the ATO has had trouble finding Filomena Kyriacou.
Filomena Kyriacou is being sued by the Australian Taxation Office.A Sydney accountant with links to a host of colourful identities is being sued by the Australian Taxation Office for more than $3 million in unpaid taxes.
Despite being paid to look after the tax affairs of her clients, Filomena Kyriacou – who has ties to a cast of characters, including Australia’s biggest tax fraudster Adam Cranston – has been accused of failing to look after her own affairs.
The Kogarah-based finance worker, who was a director of firm Wentworth Williams, is being sued by the ATO in the NSW Supreme Court, where it has been alleged that Ms Kyriacou has failed to pay millions in income tax and penalties since 2016.
The ATO launched legal action against the 58-year-old last year but has been unable to find her in the time since.
When the matter was last in court on June 3, Registrar Jennifer Hedge ordered the ATO to provide further information to support an application to serve Ms Kyriacou with the legal documents from the case by alternative means other than handing them to her in person.
Despite the ATO’s inability to find her, sources have reported seeing Ms Kyriacou enjoying Sydney’s nightlife as well as going on holidays in the past year.
This has included taking in the Elvis: Musical Revolution show at the State Theatre in the Sydney CBD.
She has also been spotted on board a luxury cruise that ran from Sydney to Tasmania and in Sydney’s streets driving a luxury BMW.
According to the ATO’s documents that have been filed with the court, the tax office is suing Ms Kyriacou for $3,055,109.
According to the documents, Ms Kyriacou failed to pay $945,276 in income tax for the financial year ending June 30, 2017.
She owes another $718,920 for the following year, the documents said.
Another $1.3 million in penalties has been heaped on top, the documents said.
Ms Kyriacou has not appeared at any of the several dates the case has appeared in court.
It adds to a long list of legal troubles Ms Kyriacou is facing. She is defending four other cases in the Supreme Court.
This includes a case where the Commonwealth Bank is suing her over a mortgage worth about $1 million.
Finance firms Reliance Financial Services and Accolade Advisory are suing her in separate cases over more than $500,000 in alleged unpaid fees and a $1 million loan.
Ms Kyriacou is defending both cases.
She is also embroiled in another Supreme Court case where she is being sued by her firm, Wentworth Williams, over allegations she took more than $1 million from the firm. She refutes the allegation and is defending the case.
Her links to organised crime figures are also beginning to emerge through other court cases.
Before he was jailed for Australia’s biggest tax fraud, Adam Cranston’s trial was told he was a former employee of Ms Kyriacou at Wentworth Williams.
Ms Kyriacou was not accused of criminal behaviour in either instance.
She was banned by the Tax Practitioners Board in 2020 from acting as a tax agent in 2020 over unpaid taxes.
