Senior tax office official Michael Cranston has resigned after he was charged in relation to an alleged $130 million tax fraud racket.
He faced a NSW court over the unprecedented white-collar fraud scandal linked to his son and daughter.
Cranston, the 58-year-old Australian Taxation Office deputy commissioner, was issued with a court attendance notice last month for two charges of abusing public office to gain advantage.
Police in May said he may have unwittingly been implicated in an alleged $130 million tax-evasion racket at the request of his 30-year-old son, Adam Cranston, who was charged with conspiring to defraud the Commonwealth.
Cranston, 58, is accused of obtaining information and exercising his influence as a Commonwealth public official between February and May 2017 for the benefit of his son, according to court documents.
Cranston's 24-year-old daughter Lauren Cranston was also charged with conspiring to cause loss and dealing in the proceeds of crime, and faced Downing Centre Local Court with her father on Tuesday.
Her barrister told the court she is due to give birth in July.
It's alleged the group accepted legitimate payroll claims through a company called Plutus Payroll and funnelled them through second-tier companies to disguise massive amounts of tax being withheld from the ATO.
The money was allegedly spent on lavish lifestyles including properties, cars, jewellery and wine.
Cranston, his daughter and another man charged in relation to the alleged fraud, Daniel Simon Hausman, are next scheduled to have their matters heard in court on August 29.
Cranston has been suspended without pay along with a few other ATO employees who are being investigated.
