The Australian Tax Office deputy commissioner Michael Cranston has resigned after been charged with two counts of abuse of public office for allegedly obtaining information and exercising influence to obtain a benefit for his son.

Cranston who was earlier suspended, tendered his resignation after the hearing, effective immediately.

Adam and Lauren Cranston, the son and daughter of Cranston, and eight others have been charged with offences relating to an alleged tax scheme, which police say involved diverting millions of dollars from Plutus Payroll intended for the tax office through a series of companies and using them for personal gain.

Seven people – Lauren and Adam Cranston, Daniel Rostankovski, Dev Menon, Simon Anquetil, Devyn Hammond and Jason Onley – have been charged with conspiracy to defraud. Aaron Paul and Christopher Guillan are charged with dealing with alleged proceeds of crime, and Rostankovski and Daniel Hausmann are charged with blackmail.

But the scheme has also embroiled one of the most senior members of the ATO, who police allege used his influence to benefit his son.

Michael Cranston appeared in the Downing Centre in Sydney where he was charged with two counts of abuse of public office under the commonwealth criminal code. The police court attendance notice states that Cranston has been charged with two separate abuse of public office offences.

The first is from February 2017, and states Cranston allegedly “used information obtained in their capacity as a Commonwealth public official as a Deputy Commissioner of the Australian Tax Office and did so with the intention of dishonestly obtaining a benefit for obtaining another person, Adam Michael Cranston”.



The second charge is dated April to May 2017 and states that he “exercised influence” for the purposes of obtaining a benefit for his son.

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