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"Controlling mind" behind £20m tax scam to appeal extradition to Supreme Court
Summary
Daniel O'Connell, 65, who lives in Clare and Limerick, is appealing to the Supreme Court over his extradition to the UK for failing to pay a confiscation order of almost £13 million. He has argued that extradition would breach his rights under the European Convention of Human Rights and that, as an indigent person, he should not be sent to serve a penalty that a wealthy person would not have to serve. Justice Aileen Donnelly rejected all of his arguments and ordered his extradition, but she put a stay on the order pending a Supreme Court application. O'Connell was convicted in 2000 of five VAT‑evasion offences, jailed for eight years, released on licence in 2003, and was later subject to a confiscation order of almost £6 million. He has paid £354,407.41, leaving a balance of nearly £6 million plus interest.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: "Controlling mind" behind £20m tax scam to appeal extradition to Supreme Court. Procedural stage: sentence. Findings: Convicted
When:
- August 9, 2000 Hearing Or Sentence
- August 1, 1996 Hearing Or Sentence
- March 25, 1999 Hearing Or Sentence
- March 2003 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 2003 Hearing Or Sentence
- May 2004 Incident
- September 2016 Incident
- 1997 to 1999 Other
- 2019-02-27 Publication
Why: She said the High Court can only refuse to surrender someone "where there is a real risk that his rights cannot be protected or were not protected in the issuing state because of a defect in the system of justice there such that it would be egregious to surrender him". CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Finding: Convicted
Outcome: Convicted; He was subsequently jailed for eight years but released in March 2003 on licence. In addition, in January 2003, Mr O'Connell was also made subject to a confiscation order for almost £6 million to be paid by May 2004 – for which an additional sentence of seven years' imprisonment would be imposed in default of payment.
Places mentioned
Topics
Related court reports
- Man behind £20m tax scam to be extradited to UK
- Extradition of man behind multi-million pound tax fraud "in public interest", court told
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