Another man has been charged in the Australian Federal Police's investigation into an alleged conspiracy to defraud the government of more than $165 million in tax revenue.
Prosecutors will claim that the 34-year-old male resident of Lavender Bay in Sydney was a former director of a payroll company which diverted legitimate tax payments from clients to their own accounts.
The man was arrested following his return to Australia on Thursday, the AFP said.
He has been charged with conspiracy to defraud, the maximum penalty for which is 10 years imprisonment. He is slated to appear in court on Friday.
This arrest brings the total number of people charged in relation to the operation to 10.
AFP Raid on ATO officers
The conspiracy allegedly involved two children of Australian Taxation Office Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston, 58, who has been asked to appear in court for allegedly abusing his position as a public official.
Mr Cranston's 30-year-old son and 24-year-old daughter were arrested along with eight others over the $165 million tax fraud investigation.
The arrests were made following an eight-month investigation, codenamed Operation Elbrus, with assistance from ATO.
"The scale of this allege fraud is unprecedented for the AFP," said Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Operations Leanne Close on Thursday.
Ms Close said it appears Michael Cranston's son has asked him to access some information.
"We don't believe that at this point that he had any knowledge of the actual conspiracy and the defrauding," she said.
Labor has called on the tax office to ensure investigations such as the Panama Papers are not in jeopardy following the launch of a major fraud case involving Mr Cranston.
Labor shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh on Friday said he was concerned about other probes including the ATO's investigation into tax evasion, tax minimisation, unexplained wealth and possible criminal activity exposed in the Panama Papers.
"That's certainly my first concern," Dr Leigh told ABC radio on Friday.
"It is obviously good that the tax office's systems flagged this issue up, but it is an incredibly serious challenge.
"Labor is concerned that those ongoing multinational tax investigations continue to take place."
- with AAP
