Martin Stokes jailed three years for tax fraud

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Martin Stokes was jailed for three years for tax fraud at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 29 April 2020. He had pleaded guilty to charges under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act, including forgery and deception. Revenue issued almost €107,000 in refunds and credits, but Stokes did not subsequently make the corresponding tax payments.

Stokes pleaded guilty in April 2016. The offences took place on dates in 2006, 2008 and 2011. He failed to attend a sentence hearing in June 2016, prompting a bench warrant. Judge Martin Nolan reduced an indicative five-year term to three years, taking account of Stokes’s family and community contributions. The court also heard that he had previous convictions for dangerous driving, deception and using counterfeit currency.