Man loses bid to quash warrants

A BUSINESSMAN who alleges he was set up by the Revenue Commissioners and rejected as a “fallacy” any suggestions his companies imported goods worth about €40 million has lost a High Court bid to quash warrants granted to search buildings and lands believed to be used by him.

Michael Grimes told the court he believed Revenue’s actions were for the purpose of destroying him, teaching him a lesson, destroying his bus transport museum in Cork and essentially putting him out of business.

The court was told he had an outstanding tax liability of €429,530, which was being recovered by way of enforcement proceedings.

Mr Grimes had sought the return of the documents, company records and other materials and equipment.

Mr Justice Michael Peart, in a judgment, said the applicant had brought forward no evidence of bad faith or improper motive on the part of the authorised officers of the Revenue and there was nothing in the replying affidavits filed by the respondents which evinced a hint that such might be the case.

“Sadly it appears to me that the applicant ... has either chosen to be selective with the facts which he has put before the court, has chosen to be deliberately misleading in an attempt to confuse and obfuscate, or inhabits some sort of parallel universe where things appear to him to be other than they appear to everybody else and other than what they truly are,” he said.

He said Mr Grimes’s assertions of bad faith or improper motive on the part of Revenue were groundless and refused his application on the basis that his grounding affidavit lacked candour to a considerable degree.