Retired shop assistant who denied she is a farmer liable for €74k excise bill on unmarked diesel following appeal

The retired shop assistant was the registered owner of a farm after inheriting the lands from her late husband

The Revenue Commissioners established Operation Chess to combat smugglers bringing in here consignments of diesel from Poland and other countries. Photo: Laura Hutton/RollingNews.ie

A widowed and retired shop assistant has been saddled with an excise duty bill of €74,727 relating to unmarked diesel that was part of an alleged smuggling operation.

In June 2016, Custom Officers and Gardai, including members of the armed response unit, in 10 to 12 vehicles as part of Revenue’s 'Operation Chess' swooped on a border county farm where they detected 52,000 litres of hydro-carbon fuel in the form of DERV as part of the alleged smuggling operation.