Jury in Lowry fraud case sent home for the weekend

THE jury in the trial of Independent TD Michael Lowry has been sent home for the weekend having considered a verdict for just under an hour.

It is the State’s case that Mr Lowry’s company, Garuda Ltd, received Stg £248,624 (€372,000) in commission from Norpe OY, a refrigeration company based in Finland, in August 2002.

It is alleged that Mr Lowry arranged for this payment to be made to a third party, Kevin Phelan, residing in the Isle of Man, and therefore it didn’t appear in the company accounts for that year.

It is further alleged that the accounts were then falsified in 2007 to reflect that the payment was received in 2006.

On Wednesday, Judge Martin Nolan told the jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that a charge of delivering an incorrect tax return for 2002 had been withdrawn.

He told the jurors in his charge yesterday that the issue in this case was what Mr Lowry knew.

He said the jury must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr Lowry knew the money was not included in the company accounts and tax computations.

He said Mr Lowry’s explanation was that he had instructed a staff member to raise an invoice in 2002, assumed this had been done, and the money automatically entered on the company’s accounts.

The judge told the jurors that they must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that this explanation is not true in order to convict.

He told the jurors they must deliver corresponding verdicts for Mr Lowry and Garuda Ltd, as the accused is the company.

Mr Lowry, 64, of Glenreigh, Holycross, Co. Tipperary, had pleaded not guilty to four charges of filing incorrect tax returns on dates between August 2002 and August 2007. He further pleaded not guilty on behalf of Garuda Ltd to three similar charges.

The jurors are due to resume their deliberations on Monday.