Courts / Dublin / Report
Company director jailed for €50k tax fraud
Summary
Stephen Power, director of SM Logistics, was jailed for six months after pleading guilty to four counts of filing incorrect end‑of‑year tax returns and four counts of failing to pay income tax between 2010 and 2013. He created bogus invoices purporting to be from a French consultancy that never worked for his company, using the money to pay mortgages on French property. The tax avoided was €47,700, including corporate and income tax. The case arose after a random audit of SM Logistics in 2012 and a personal audit of Power. Judge Martin Nolan noted that early cooperation with Revenue could have avoided prosecution. Power was sentenced to 18 months, with the final year suspended, and the company was fined €500. He has no prior convictions and has repaid the tax owed to Revenue.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Company director jailed for €50k tax fraud. Charges or matters: four counts of knowingly filing incorrect end-of-year tax returns to Revenue between January 2011 and December 2013; four counts of failing to pay income tax on dates between January 2010 and December 2013. Procedural stage: sentence
When:
- January 2011 Other
- December 2013 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 2010 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2010 and 2013 Other
- 2020-07-31 Publication
Why: Instead, Power had transferred the money to his own accounts in order to pay a number of mortgages he had on French property, the court heard. Court evidence reported by CNI
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: four counts of knowingly filing incorrect end-of-year tax returns to Revenue between January 2011 and December 2013; four counts of failing to pay income tax on dates between January 2010 and December 2013 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Credit: Collins) A company director who created bogus invoices to avoid paying nearly €50,000 in tax has been jailed for six months. Judge Martin Nolan said Power could have cooperated with Revenue and avoided prosecution. "With Revenue, if you come clean at the start of the process, you will not be criminally prosecuted," he said. "For his own reasons, this defendant ignored that chance." The judge said it was a sizeable sum of money and merited a custodial sentence.
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