Hoteliers fined £2.2m for fraud

[Cloc Mor]

Two brothers who own the Canal Court Hotel in Newry have been fined £1.1m each for tax evasion.
Patrick and John McParland were also given suspended four-year jail sentences and have been banned from directing any company for seven years.
The brothers pleaded guilty to making tax declarations to the inland revenue which failed to disclose details of more than 20 bank accounts.
The declarations were delivered in the 1980s and 90s.
They covered the period from April 1971 to August 1992.
At a previous hearing on 1 October, at the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast, the brothers from Kesh Road in Camlough, County Armagh, were ordered to pay £3,399,042 in confiscation orders for unpaid income tax and interest due.
The three-year investigation by HM Revenue and Customs uncovered 20 offshore bank accounts previously held in the Isle of Man, Jersey and the Republic of Ireland as well as four offshore Trusts set up for the personal benefit of the brothers and their families.
Speaking outside the court, Steve Armitt of HMRC said the high fines imposed showed the seriousness of the case.
"The days when hiding assets offshore was seen as a safe bet for evading the UK's taxes have gone," he said.

[armaghniac]

They'll put up the prices in the Canal Court and the Carrickdale now to pay this. 

[Seany]

They are two highly respected men who have heavily sponsored GAA and still empty their pockets to the association.  They don't deserve this and have done more for cross border trade, the revival of Newry and creation of employment than the bastards who are taling their hard earned money off them.  Why should they send money to the GB govt to pay for the war in iraq?  This is a disgrace.  Paddy and John are two decent men and deserve all our support.