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Foxrock company director is jailed over failure to pay VAT
Summary
John McMahon, 59, director of the Dublin advertising firm Rain Communications, was sentenced in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two years' imprisonment, with the final 18 months suspended, for failing to pay between €57,000 and €58,000 in VAT to Revenue from 2006 to 2010. He pleaded guilty to five counts of failing to remit VAT and four counts of failing to file correct returns. McMahon had set up the company in 2005 with a co‑director, and the firm entered liquidation in 2012. During the period in question, McMahon's co‑director paid the VAT owed, while McMahon himself contributed €140,000 of personal capital to keep the company solvent. He had no prior convictions, was described as a hard‑working member of society, and had a wife and two adult children. The judge noted his financial pressure and the difficulty of detecting the fraud, but deemed an immediate custodial sentence necessary.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Foxrock company director is jailed over failure to pay VAT. Charges or matters: five counts of failing to remit VAT to the collector general and four counts of failing to furnish a true and correct return for VAT payable to Revenue between January 2006 and December 2010. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- January 2006 Hearing Or Sentence
- December 2010 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 2005 Hearing Or Sentence
- March 2012 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2006 and 2010 Other
- 2010 and 2012 Other
- 2017-03-28 Publication
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: five counts of failing to remit VAT to the collector general and four counts of failing to furnish a true and correct return for VAT payable to Revenue between January 2006 and December 2010 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: He said it was a serious matter to defraud Revenue and was a crime that was difficult to detect at times. "A deterrent must be sent out not to defraud the Revenue," he said, before he added that he believed that McMahon deserved an immediate custodial sentence.
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