Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Michael Lowry Sam Boal / Rollingnews.ie
Sam Boal / Rollingnews.ie / Rollingnews.ie
INDEPENDENT TD MICHAEL Lowry and his refrigeration company have been fined a total of €25,000 for tax offences after a judge ruled that a custodial sentence would be “inappropriate”.
The politician and Garuda Ltd, were convicted earlier today by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury of two charges each of delivering an incorrect corporation tax return and failing to keep proper set of accounts.
Judge Martin Nolan made his ruling after a verdict was delivered by the jury, on day 12 of the trial, just before lunchtime today.
The judge referred to Lowry as a “conscientious tax payer” having accepted evidence that he previously “put his hand in his pocket” to settle a separate €1.4 million tax bill, which had been owed by Garuda and dated back to 1997.
“Whatever was his motive for the 2006 actions, it was not to evade tax,” Judge Nolan said before he added that “honest tax returns are very important” in terms of self-assessment of tax.
He said the court was dealing with “a very narrow series of events”.
“Everyone is aware he has been involved in certain controversy,” Judge Nolan said before he added these offences were offences of process. He noted that Revenue has not been at a loss in relation to what occurred.
Judge Nolan accepted that the politician had no previous convictions, was a good employer and a very good public representative.
“The proof of the pudding is in the eating. He has been re-elected,” the judge said.
He noted that the maximum sentence available to the court was a five-year term but said he didn’t think a custodial sentence was appropriate in the case.
He fined Lowry €15,000 personally and Garuda €10,000. He also disqualified Lowry from acting as a director of the company for three years.
“He seems to have rescued his company. If he had not put in a substantial cash infusion into the company it would not be operating at present,” Judge Nolan said. He was referring to evidence that Lowry re-mortgaged his home to pay the €1.4 million tax bill in 2007.
Finally Judge Nolan remarked, “This is to Mr Lowry’s credit. I would not like to fall on the wrong side of Mr Oliver”. Henry Oliver is the tax inspector who was responsible for bringing the case forward for criminal investigation.
Deliberation
The jury of three women and eight men returned the verdicts following just over eight and half hours deliberation.
The jury were unable to reach a decision on four remaining charges before them. The State is not proceeding with these charges.
It was the State’s case that Lowry’s company, Garuda Ltd, trading as Streamline Enterprises received Stg £248,624 (€372,000) in commission from Norpe OY, a refrigeration company based in Finland, in August 2002.
It was alleged that Lowry arranged for this payment to be made to a third party, Kevin Phelan through the Glebe Trust based in the Isle of Man, and therefore it didn’t appear in the company accounts for that year.
The accounts were then falsified in 2007 to reflect that the payment was received in 2006.
Lowry (64) of Glenreigh, Holycross, Co. Tipperary, had pleaded not guilty to four charges of filing incorrect tax returns on dates between August 2002 and August 2007 in relation to a 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 3 August 2007.
He further pleaded not guilty on behalf of Garuda Ltd to three similar charges in relation to the company’s tax affairs and one charge of failing to keep a proper set of accounts on the same dates.
Last week Judge Nolan told the jury that a charge of delivering an incorrect tax return for 2002 had been withdrawn. The jury recorded a verdict of “not guilty by direction of the trial judge” against this charge today.
Michael O’Higgins SC, defending Lowry, said his client was “an extremely hard-working representative for 30 years, working day and night on behalf of his constituency from the nitty gritty of medical cards through to housing”.
He reminded the judge of the fact that Lowry previously settled a €1.4 million tax bill in 2007 on behalf of Garuda.
Advertisement
“He was absolute that it would fall on him personally rather than hide behind a limited company,” O’Higgins submitted.
He described the prosecution as three pronged and said the income tax charge, of which his client had been acquitted by direction of the judge, was “at the apex” of it.
O’Higgins said the charges relating to 2002, of which the jury failed to return a verdict, “involved overt concealment from the authorities of the money”, while at the lowest end is the doctoring of the 2006 accounts.
Counsel described this as “a botched repair effort”, and that it was recoded as a current transaction when it should have been recorded as a historic one.
He said the fact that the corporation tax was lower in 2006 than it had been in 2002 and that the exchange rate was more favourable was “a fortuitous event”.
O’Higgins said the previous five years had been a “heavy burden” on his client and referred to one court date which he missed because he had suffered an “acute heart attack”.
He said the investigation itself had “an element of a sledge hammer and a nut” and added that his client had also suffered a financial burden as he had not been legally aided.
Garuda
Patrick Treacy SC, defending Garuda, said the company had 26 employees and said it generated significant employment for Thurles.
He suggested to Judge Nolan that when the State didn’t resist the application to withdraw the charge of failing to pay income tax, the case changed to being an exclusively corporation tax case.
“It is more of a case that demands to be dealt with by the company on the front-line,” Mr Treacy said.
The charges against Lowry outlined that the offences were committed with the consent or connivance of Michael Lowry who was at the time a director, manager, secretary or other officer of Garuda Ltd.
Both Lowry and Garuda were charged with knowingly or willingly delivering to the Inspector of Taxes of the Thurles District incorrect accounts in connection with corporation tax for year ending 31 December 2002 and delivering incorrect information in connection with the corporation tax for year ending 31 December 2002, to wit an incorrect corporation tax computation.
The politician and his company were also both charged with delivering an incorrect return in connection with corporation tax for year ending 31 December, 2006 and that between August 28, 2002 and August 3, 2007, Garuda Ltd failed to keep proper books of accounts within the meaning of Section 202 of the Companies Act 1990 insofar as the said books did not correctly record and explain the transactions of the company.
Witness
The prosecution’s key witness, Henry Oliver, in the investigation unit of Revenue, told the jury that he had looked into the €372,000 payment in in August 2013 and assessed it as an emolument (a wage or salary) earned by Lowry.
He said he determined Lowry owed income tax on the figure and Garuda owed PAYE and PRSI on the sum. He assessed the total owed to Revenue, including penalties and fine, as being €1.1 million.
Lowry’s defence team did not accept that the €372,000 constituted an income, but rather said the money was owed to the company as commission from Norpe.
The jury heard that both Michael Lowry and Garuda Ltd successfully challenged the Revenue assessment before the appeals commission in April 2015. The assessment was reduced to nil, meaning that neither Lowry nor Garuda owed anything to Revenue.
It was because of this evidence that Mr O’Higgins applied for a direction of not guilty by the trial judge on the basis that “there was no case to answer”.
The State didn’t oppose the application. Judge Nolan withdrew the charge and the trial continued with the remaining eight charges in connection to the corporation tax associated with the €372,0000.
During the trial Judge Nolan told the jury that the issue in this case was what Lowry knew.
He said the jury must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Lowry knew the money was not included in the company accounts and tax computations.
He said Lowry’s explanation was that he had instructed a staff member to raise an invoice in 2002, assumed this had been done and the money automatically entered on the company’s accounts.
The judge told the jurors that they must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that this explanation is not true in order to convict. He said if they found the explanation reasonably believable, then they must acquit.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Analysis: Cabin homes in family gardens? Ah sure, we'll take what we can get at this stage
3 hrs ago
11.0k
52
russia's war
Ireland would 'consider' sending peacekeepers to Ukraine if UN-mandated ceasefire secured
2 hrs ago
7.2k
40
The Morning Lead
Government to make cabin homes in back gardens exempt from planning
Christina Finn
20 hrs ago
94.6k
123
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 148 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 102 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 133 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 103 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 75 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 74 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 36 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 32 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 124 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 59 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 72 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 79 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 42 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 24 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 82 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 92 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 65 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 48 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 81 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 60 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say