Thomas "Slab" Murphy pleads not guilty to tax evasion

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

Thomas "Slab" Murphy has pleaded not guilty to nine charges of alleged tax evasion at the Special Criminal Court. The charges allege that he failed to furnish a return of his income, profits or gains, or their source, to the Collector General or the Inspector of Taxes for the years 1996/97 to 2004.

The proceedings were reported on 20 October 2015. The prosecution's case was that Mr Murphy conducted significant cattle and land dealings and received Department of Agriculture farming grants but made no returns to revenue. The prosecution followed a Criminal Assets Bureau investigation.

Tom Mulligan, former project manager at Kepak in Clonee, told the non-jury court that in 2006 he gave gardaí records of business conducted by Kepak with Thomas Murphy. The report described the supplier as a man named Thomas Murphy. Mr Mulligan told Paul Burns SC, prosecuting, that cattle worth over €30,000 were supplied to Kepak Meat Processors between August 1999 and August 2001. Copies of cheques payable from Kepak to Thomas Murphy were exhibited to the three-judge court.

Stephen O'Beirne, former manager of Ballinasloe Livestock Mart, said a man named Thomas Murphy, with an address at Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, Co Louth, purchased five cattle worth €4,737.29 in May 2004. He said an authorised cattle agent paid for the cattle.

Mary Keenan, manager at Kingscourt Mart, said cattle worth over €5,000 were purchased "on behalf of" Thomas Murphy in May 2004. She told the court: "I've never dealt with Thomas Murphy in person."

The trial was continuing.