A bench warrant was issued yesterday by Belfast Crown Court for the arrest of a Co Galway businessman accused of a £900,000 VAT fraud.
Mr Rory McGann (30) from Dunloe Court in Ballinasloe, was due to go on trial yesterday, accused of defrauding the Northern Ireland Commissioners of Customs and Excise of £901,400.60 in VAT duties.
Mr John Orr QC, defending, told Lord Justice McCollum that Mr McGann had been told the trial might be delayed but later had been told his trial was due to start yesterday. Mr Carl Simpson QC, prosecuting, applied for a bench warrant for Mr McGann's arrest. Mr McGann faces 10 charges, including nine of VAT fraud, between November 1994 and January 1997, in that Kettrick Ltd had failed to make returns and failed to account for monies due to Customs and Excise.
The tenth charge is of "knowingly being concerned in" the fraudulent evasion of VAT by Kettrick Ltd, "by way of making taxable supplies and not disclosing the VAT thereon".