The notoriously private Sydney multi-millionaire who founded RAMS Home Loans will fight federal police claims he dodged more than $30 million in tax over a 10-year period.
The Australian Federal Police allege John Alan Kinghorn fraudulently concealed his beneficial ownership and control of corporate entities.
The 76-year-old was charged after an eight-year investigation relating to his conduct between 1997 and 2007. He could face up to a decade in jail if found guilty.
Kinghorn's matter was heard at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday morning where he entered a plea of not guilty to one count of dishonestly influencing a Commonwealth public official and one count of defrauding the Commonwealth.
The AFP alleges Kinghorn concealed his control of Kalomo Corporation Limited and Kalomo Pacific Leasing between March 2004 and March 2007, court documents show.
Investigators claim Kinghorn defrauded the Commonwealth by representing to the taxation commissioner that he did not control any unlisted company incorporated outside Australia.
The AFP said this prejudiced the taxation commissioner's ability to assess his income tax liability.
The companies that are the subject of the AFP's allegations against Kinghorn were registered in Jersey but were struck off the Channel Island's register of companies and dissolved in October 2008.
Kinghorn, who has dabbled in everything from real estate to doughnuts in his business life, took on the big banks in 1995 by launching RAMS.
After failing to sell the home loan company for $1 billion in 2006, Kinghorn floated it on the Australia stock market a year later, a move which reaped him $650 million.
Within three weeks of its July 2007 stock market debut, RAMS' shares collapsed as the global financial crisis hit and credit markets froze.
It was sold to Westpac in October 2007 at a fire-sale price of $140 million.
AFP Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan on Tuesday said: "This result should serve as a warning that we will use every capability at our disposal to bring allegations of fraud before court."
Financial crimes pose a threat to the economy and the tax system, he added.
"Commonwealth fraud offences have a significant impact on the Australian public - every dollar represents funds that could have been put to use for the benefit of the whole community."
The AFP's serious financial crime task force has clawed back more than $408 billion in tax liabilities since 2015.
The matter has been adjourned until February 2018.
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