Convicted tax fraudster Charles Pratten is awaiting his sentence after judgement was reserved at the conclusion of his recent sentencing hearing.

Pratten, the founder of Rural & General Insurance and later Rural & General Insurance Brokers, was convicted by a jury last June in the NSW Supreme Court of seven counts of obtaining by deception a financial advantage from the Commonwealth.

The charges related to money paid to Pratten by Vanuatu-based companies he controlled, which he used to buy various assets such as properties, a helicopter and a boat, and pay personal expenses such as private school fees, but which he failed to declare as income on his Australian tax returns.

The maximum sentence for the offences is 10 years, and Crown Prosecutor Michael Wigney, SC, requested that Pratten be given “a significant custodial sentence”.

Justice Stephen Rothman has not announced when he will hand down Pratten’s sentence.