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Lowry denied at appeal hearing that payment was "deliberately hidden", jury hears

Summary

In the trial of independent TD Michael Lowry, the jury heard that Lowry denied at a prior hearing that he had deliberately hidden a 2002 commission payment of £248,624 (€372,000) from his auditors. The State alleges that Lowry arranged for the payment to be made to a third party in the Isle of Man, so it did not appear in Garuda Ltd's 2002 accounts and was not declared as income. The accounts were later falsified in 2007 to show the payment as received in 2006. Lowry testified that the sum was a director's loan repayment, not a salary, and that he corrected the accounts in 2006 after discovering the omission. The appeals commission found insufficient evidence to treat the €372,000 as an emolument, reducing the tax assessment to nil for both Lowry and Garuda. The case continues before Judge Martin Nolan without a jury. Td Michael Lowry pleaded not guilty.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Lowry denied at appeal hearing that payment was "deliberately hidden", jury hears. Charges or matters: filing an incorrect corporation tax for 2006; four charges of filing incorrect tax returns on dates between August 2002 and August 2007 in relation to the sum of Stg £248,624 received by his company, Garuda Ltd and one charge in relation to failing to keep a proper set of accounts on dates between 28 August, 2002 and August 3, 2007. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• August 2002 Other
• April 2015 Hearing Or Sentence
• September 2006 Hearing Or Sentence
• June 10, 2015 Other
• September 30, 2013 Other
• November 14, 2013 Other
• October 3, 2003 Other
• October 2, 2003 Other
• November 2, 2010 Incident
• August 2007 Other
• 28 August Other
• August 3, 2007 Other
• 2018-06-19 Publication

Why: He accepted there was no invoice raised for the commission but said that was because Norpe didn't require it. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Trial

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Read the original CNI report