Travel ban slapped on pub director entangled in $245m tax scam
One of the alleged masterminds of a $120 million GST scam has been slapped with orders preventing him from leaving Australia.
Mark Toma, former director of collapsed hospitality group Virtical, applied to the Federal Court to appeal a Departure Prevention Order issued by the Tax Office, and in the process revealed the restrictions on his travel.
Former Virtical director Mark Toma (right) walking out of the Federal Court after his examination last March. Michael Quelch
The ATO has been investigating $120 million in claimed GST refunds for construction work that is alleged to have never happened.
It is alleged Virtical owes the tax office $245 million, including $80 million of penalties, other debts and interest. If proven, it would count as the biggest GST fraud in Australia’s history.
Companies claim refunds for GST paid on business expenses if the expenses surpass their income for that period, although the receipts have to be provided only in the case of an audit.
The refunds were claimed using invoices from Top Class Constructions, of which Toma was director from 2017 to 2023.
BRI Ferrier liquidators filed a Federal Court action against Toma and another former Virtical director John Palasty last June. They allege the pair ripped off taxpayers through a “dishonest and fraudulent” operation.
It is unclear whether Palasty has the same travel restrictions. If so, he has not filed to appeal them.
Toma’s lawyer declined to comment.
‘I don’t remember’
Virtical burst onto the scene in 2023 as it scooped up famous pubs and hotels such as Sydney’s Republic and Melbourne’s Adelphi in a $125 million spending blitz over four months.
The Australian Financial Review revealed in 2024 that Virtical, Toma and Palasty were under ATO investigation. Weeks later, Virtical collapsed as a lender owed $90 million forced its companies into liquidation.
When Toma and Palasty were grilled by liquidators in court over the collapse, each pointed the finger at each other over the tens of millions of dollars of GST claims based on $1.2 billion in construction work that the ATO claimed did not happen.
Toma responded “I don’t remember” to many questions from the liquidator’s lawyers, ranging from what his role was at Top Class Constructions to whether he finished kindergarten or primary school. Although, he alleged Palasty had prepared all of Top Class Constructions invoices and instructed a tax agent to lodge them for GST refunds.
Palasty, a twice bankrupt developer, took over as Virtical director from Toma, an ex-building materials salesman, in November 2023 after acting as the group’s development manager and senior adviser.
After leaving Virtical, Toma dedicated himself to short-term money lending firm Bond Global Capital, which boasted on its website at the time that Toma had netted $45 million from the sale of his Virtical shares “further solidifying his reputation as a financial luminary”.
“Mark’s astute investments have left an indelible mark on the real estate landscape,” his website said, noting his “remarkable achievements continue to inspire and set a standard of excellence for the industry”.
Toma admitted under oath last year that the sale price for his Virtical shares had been negotiated down from $45 million to $25 million, and he ended up receiving between $9 million and $10 million.
Palasty was discharged from his second bankruptcy in early 2023. Amid the collapse of the company in September 2024, Palasty stepped down and sold his shares in many of the group’s failed companies to 27-year-old man from Mount Hunter, a rural town 70 kilometres south-west of Sydney.
Liquidators allege Toma and Palasty were the directors of Virtical and that even after Toma’s resignation in late 2023, he acted as “true controller” of the company.
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