Suspended sentence over €1m unpaid tax on bogus accounts

A BUSINESSMAN has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence for non-payment of tax on almost €1 million lodged to a string of bogus non-resident accounts.

Tadgh Feeney, Jerpoint West, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, appeared before Kilkenny Circuit Court yesterday. Mr Feeney spent three months in prison last year after inspectors with the Revenue Commissioners told the court he had “failed to engage in any meaningful manner” with them regarding his tax affairs.

The court heard that Feeney had engaged “in systematic tax evasion over a long period”.

Pat Treacy for the State yesterday stated that since his release from prison, Feeney had employed a chartered accountant and had made “meaningful engagement” with Revenue.

The court heard last April that Feeney had opened 29 Irish Nationwide Building Society accounts, all with bogus address in England.

John Flynn, assistant principal investigator at the Revenue Commissioners, told the court that €921,000 had been lodged to these accounts between 1988 and July 1998. Some of the accounts were opened in the name of Feeney’s wife and their children, who were minors at the time.

Mr Flynn said that when interest was added to these accounts, the total lodgements came to more than €1.25 million.

Mr Flynn said the defendant owed the Revenue €613,000 and that he had been given every opportunity to pay.

Feeney pleaded guilty in November 2008 to 16 tax-related charges, including making false returns and failing to submit VAT and tax returns.

Mr Treacy yesterday outlined to the court payments made by Mr Feeney totalling €378,000 to revenue since 2001, including a sum of €217,000 paid at the time of his release from prison last July.

Feeney’s tax affairs came under scrutiny following a VAT audit of his company, Dominator Safes, in 1998 and an investigation into bogus non-resident accounts by Revenue in 2000.

The court yesterday heard that Feeney accepted he had a tax liability of €1.128 million but that due to “lack of funds” this could only be repaid on a “staged basis”.

The court heard that Revenue had formed an agreement with him allowing him to pay back the outstanding €750,000 in four instalments to start in April 2010 running until March 2011.

It was agreed that if he did not comply with the agreement or failed to meet with the instalment dates, the case would be re-entered against him.

The court heard Feeney had certified that he had made a complete disclosure to Revenue of all bank accounts and investments of any nature held by him or his wife for the period from 2001 to 2008. He also undertook to keep all his tax affairs up to date.

Judge Olive Buttimer sentenced Feeney to two years in prison but suspended this for two years to allow him “to comply with the agreement entered into with the Revenue Commissioners”.