Six-year sentence for garlic tax scam

The head of Ireland’s largest fruit and vegetable producers has been jailed for six years for a €1.6m scam involving the importation of garlic.

Paul Begley, aged 46, of Begley Brothers Ltd, based in Blanchardstown, avoided paying customs duty on more than 1,000 tonnes of garlic from China, by having them labelled as apples.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard the import duty on garlic is “inexplicably” high and can be up to 232%. In contrast, onions have an import duty of 9%.