Courts / Limerick / Report

Father and son to be jailed for "deliberate" VAT fraud after DPP appeal

Date
2017-03-20

Stage
Appeal

Court
Limerick Circuit Criminal Court

Primary locality
Limerick

Summary

Jonathan Slattery (36) and William Slattery (63), directors of Slattery Ventures Limited, pleaded guilty to multiple VAT offences, including delivering incorrect returns, claiming unentitled repayments, and failing to keep records between 2005 and 2008. Their 2015 suspended three‑year sentences were reviewed by the Director of Public Prosecutions and converted to eight‑month custodial terms by the Court of Appeal. The case centred on the Ballycummin fast‑food outlet, where the company's cash registers were manipulated: the NRGT function was deliberately disabled and every second z‑read was skipped, leading to unrecorded cash receipts and under‑payment of VAT. The estimated loss to Revenue was €223,965, in addition to €70,000 already recovered. The Slatterys provided limited cooperation, made no admissions, and had no prior convictions. The Court of Appeal accepted mitigation but imposed the eight‑month jail term, requiring the Slatterys to surrender to Gardaí on 27 March 2024.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Father and son to be jailed for "deliberate" VAT fraud after DPP appeal. Charges or matters: two counts of knowingly or wilfully delivering an incorrect VAT return, one count of claiming a repayment of tax to which there was no entitlement and one count of failing to keep records at a number of outlets in Limerick on dates between 2005 and 2008. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

June 19, 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
Monday, March 27 Hearing Or Sentence
2005 and 2008 Other
2017-03-20 Publication

Case subjects

Jonathan Slattery

Applicant

Charges: two counts of knowingly or wilfully delivering an incorrect VAT return, one count of claiming a repayment of tax to which there was no entitlement and one count of failing to keep records at a number of outlets in Limerick on dates between 2005 and 2008 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: They were given wholly suspended three year sentences at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court by Judge Tom O'Donnell on June 19, 2015.

William Slattery

Applicant

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: They were given wholly suspended three year sentences at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court by Judge Tom O'Donnell on June 19, 2015.