A highly regarded GP who dodged the payment of almost €100,000 in income tax has been jailed for 16 months
Dr
Bassam Naser (51) of Howth Road, Sutton, Dublin pleaded guilty at
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two charges of delivering an incorrect
return in connection with his income tax affairs for the years 2006 and
2007.
The court heard that Dr Naser had a hidden bank account into
which he lodged 1,686 cheques that had been paid by his patients
attending his clinic. He was due to pay almost €100,000 in income tax
and now owes a further €200,000 in penalties and fees. He had a €100,000
cheque in court to pay the overdue tax.
When evidence was first
heard yesterday, Dr Naser's wife of 24 years and mother to their seven
children, stood in the body of the court crying and asked Judge Martin
Nolan for “mercy” before she was escorted out by her husband.
The judge had adjourned the case overnight to consider the case and had remanded the doctor on continuing bail.
Today Judge Nolan sentenced Dr Naser to 16 months in prison after he described the offences as serious.
“An
efficient and good tax system is vital to a good society,” the judge
said, adding that it allowed for much-needed services to be provided to
the community.
He said Dr Naser “failed abysmally” and was “morally reprehensible”.
He is a very intelligent man. He knew what he was doing was wrong. He created a mechanism to avoid paying his taxes.
The judge also noted that Revenue was reliant on the honesty of people who are self-assessed.
“It
is the luck of the draw as to whether you are audited and I suspect
audits are infrequent so Revenue are relying on the honesty of the tax
payer,” the judge said.
He acknowledged that Dr Naser had
“excellent mitigation” and accepted that there were “multiple impressive
references from his patients”.
He said that Naser was a good
doctor and an advocate for his patients and that he was a community man
who continued to do charity work for his native Palestine.
Judge
Nolan said he was conscious of the doctor's family circumstances and the
fact that he had repaid €100,000 to Revenue but added:
He knew what he was doing and yet he persisted.
Evidence from Revenue
Gerard
Cosgrave, an assistant principal officer with the Revenue
Commissioners, told Tony McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting that Dr Naser was
audited in 2008 and failed to disclose a bank account he held with Bank
of Ireland.
In October 2009 he completed a statement of affairs
outlining his assets and liabilities and again didn't advise officers of
this additional bank account. In April 2013, Bank of Ireland informed
Revenue about the account and provided officers with statements.
Mr Cosgrave said that 986 cheques
totalling €88,762 were lodged to that account in 2006 and a further 700
cheques, totalling €71,189, lodged into the account in 2007. Another
account, in his wife's name, also had undeclared cheques lodged into it.
Mr Cosgrave told Judge Nolan that the total amount of income tax owed to Revenue was €99,435.11.
Dr
Naser was interviewed in March 2017 but claimed that everything that
went through the practice was supplied to his tax agent. He made “no
comment” when the “hidden bank account” was put to him, Mr Cosgrave
said.
Kerida Naidoo SC, defending, said that his client arrived in
Ireland as a refugee from Palestine 30 years ago and with financial
assistance from his parents studied at the Royal Academy of Medicine. He
began working as a GP in 1998.
Counsel handed in a “bundle of testimonials” from numerous patients who attended at Dr Naser's clinic over the years.
Many
of these patients spoke about how they have left the area but still
travel to be treated by Dr Naser. People spoke of how “he goes above and
beyond for all of us” and a number of patients stated that they didn't
believe they, or a loved one, would still be alive if it had not been
for Dr Naser's care.
Mr Naidoo also pointed out to Judge Nolan
that a number of the testimonies spoke of how Dr Naser didn't charge
them for the additional care and aftercare he provided them.
Counsel
said that Dr Naser's practice work was almost 50 % work for the HSE and
50% work from private patients. He submitted that should his client be
left at his liberty, he would be in a position to pay the additional
fines and penalties he incurred, through his work.
Mr Naidoo said
his client would also suffer “a loss of reputation” because of the media
attention the case would attract and noted that he would probably lose
potential patients
He
did something seriously wrong. He admits that he has done wrong. He has
no previous convictions and is paying the financial punishment that
goes with it.
Mr Naidoo said his client had worked
hard, had made meaningful contributions to his community and people
depended on him for medical care.
“More good can be done for everyone by not sending him to prison,” counsel said.
When
asked by Judge Nolan what he had to say about the need to imprison an
accused to act as a deterrent to others, Mr Naidoo replied; “A rational
thinking person, looking at the evidence of the case, will be deterred
because of all of the realities my client is now facing.”
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