Car dealer sent fake invoices to CAB to avoid tax penalties
By Isabel Hayes
A Dublin car dealer who sent fake invoices to the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) in order to avoid tax penalties has been given a suspended sentence, reports Isabel Hayes.
Glen Walker, who ran Autosport Motors in Clondalkin, “panicked” when CAB inspectors called to his garage to carry out a Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) inspection in October 2017, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard on Tuesday.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
When officers queried whether VRT had been paid on two imported BMWs in the garage forecourt, Walker later emailed and posted a false invoice to CAB saying the vehicles had been purchased within the last 30 days – within the required time frame for payment of VRT.
Walker (39), with an address in Saggart Lakes, Citywest, pleaded guilty to one count of using a false instrument in relation to a motor vehicle between October 26 and November 7, 2017.
The BMWs were seized by CAB, leaving Walker with a loss of €90,000, the court heard. The garage has since gone into liquidation, but he is still working in the industry.
Sentencing Walker, Judge Melanie Greally said it was a “heavy price” to pay for his lapse of honesty.
“But he was operating in a sector where high standards must be maintained,” the judge said. “He fell very far short of fulfilling these expectations.”
She handed down a two-year sentence, but suspended it on a number of conditions.
“This offence will have caused him considerable embarrassment, will impact on his standing in the motor trade and will affect his relationship with suppliers and customers,” the judge said.
Walker, a father-of-three, has seven previous convictions from between 2001 and 2013, including dangerous driving and drink driving, the court heard.
