Galway Bay fm newsroom - The High Court has imposed one of the longest disqualification periods ever handed down on a Clonberne company director who admitted his role in a scheme which resulted in Revenue being defrauded of more than €1.2m.
Mr Justice Brian O'Moore ruled Kevin Rabbitte who was the director of a company called Westman Plant and Civils Limited, should be disqualified for a period of 14 years and three months.
Mr Rabbitte he said had been involved in what was "a carefully coordinated and planned fraud."
This is one of the longest disqualification periods ever handed down by the Irish courts.
Earlier this week Mr Rabbitte, of Clonberne, Ballinasloe consented to a declaration that as an officer of the company he had knowingly carried out business on behalf of Westman with the intention to defraud the firm's creditors, including the Revenue Commissioners.
He also consented to being made personally responsible for €1.5m of the company's debts and liabilities, and that he would be disqualified from acting as a company director for a period.
The court heard that as part of the fraud Westman's VAT number was used to purchase machinery and plant equipment imported mainly from the UK, into Ireland between July 2014 and June 2015.
He would bid for the machinery and if successful he would used Westman's VAT number to acquire the goods.
It is claimed that VAT due on the goods bought in the UK was not paid to revenue when the machinery was subsequently sold on in Ireland. This resulted in Revenue being defrauded of €1.2m.
The company, incorporated in 2014 and wound up in 2017, never declared the purchases or any subsequent sales for VAT purposes.
The application against Mr Rabbitte was sought by the company's liquidator Mr Myles Kirby.
Mr Kirby claimed Mr Rabbitte had knowingly participated in a fraud which is known as "carousel fraud" or Missing Trader Intra-Community VAT Fraud.
Mr Justice O'Moore said while it "had it complexities" the "nature of the fraud was fairly straight forward".
It was also a serious matter, which merited "a significant" disqualification.
