A Longford car dealer who is being pursued by the Revenue Commissioners for almost €5m has been jailed for contempt of court.
John Kane, also know as Alex Kane, who runs a major SUV dealership in Granard, was described as having operated a cross-border 'car dealing racket' in breach of an order of the Commercial Court.
The court appointed a receiver last July to the businesses of John Kane of Kanes of Granard and his brother Pauric of Granard Motors after a €10m judgment was awarded against them for tax evasion.
The court heard they had a long history of tax evasion, leading to an investigation by the Revenue Commissioners.
The Commercial Court took the unusual step of appointing a receiver to secure the assets of the business for the Revenue Commissioners.
However, the Commercial Court was told today that there were continuous and flagrant breaches of the order of the court, which froze the assets of the two men preventing them from reducing them below €10m.
In a report to the court, the receiver described multiple attempts to conceal and defraud revenue.
It was alleged that John Kane had allowed cars to be removed from the premises without the consent of the receiver and that records showed cars were sold to people who did not exist.
The court was also told that in some cases two sets of number plates were used for vehicles and that the receiver was told that cars were being returned to owners after repairs when in fact they had been sold.
John Kane gave evidence to say that he had unwittingly breached the terms of the injunction and used funds generated by car sales to pay off mortgages. He said he was left without an income when the receiver was appointed and had no option.
He launched a stinging attack from the witness box and said the receiver had not been on site for some time and he had no guidance when he was left with no staff. He said he was not aware that using money to pay mortgages was reducing assets.
John Kane said he had been treated like a dog and denied that he had offered money to a security guard appointed by the receiver to leave the premises for a time. However, he agreed that he had an interest in five properties that provided a rental income.
However, Mr Justice Peter Kelly said having engaged in tactical attempts to put off the evil day and continued to engage in a car dealing racket, John Kane had still not made a clean breast of it and put his hands up.
Justice Kelly said the purpose of a committal to prison was not to punish but to coerce compliance with an order. He said John Kane's behaviour had not changed after the order was made to freeze his assets and his expression of contrition and apology had a hollow ring.
He said he had been thumbing his nose at the authorities and laughing at Revenue officials, playing ducks and drakes with the system. Justice Kelly said he had engaged in an elaborate scheme that produced large sums of money using subterfuge and underhand dealings.
The judge said the time for the racket was over and he would send him to prison to reflect on his future behaviour. He jailed him for one week and adjourned the case taken against his brother Pauric Kane.
