Five Northlanders facing charges of failing to file tax returns covering almost $1 million claim the District Court has no jurisdiction to hear their case and they have already been cleared of wrongdoing by a Maori native council.
The trial gets underway today of Timothy Meredith, 45, Carol Karl, 50, Andrew Karl, 42, Thomas Brown, 27, and Timothy Craig, 35, who are jointly charged with three charges of knowingly failing to provide information on income tax under the Tax Administration Act and Crimes' Act.
Meredith, Carol Karl and Andrew Karl appeared in the Whangarei District Court yesterday and legal arguments meant their trial could not proceed until this morning.
Warrants are out for the arrest of Craig and Brown who failed to appear yesterday.
Carol Karl was initially charged with six counts but three counts were withdrawn by Crown prosecutor Kevin Patterson in court yesterday.