Another FF tax dodger

sorrento

Taken from unison.ie

He blames his bank for bad advice, HIS BANK?? he could at least blame his accountant or something, banks aren't there to give you advice on your income tax affairs.

'FF councillor makes €66,000 settlement with Revenue'


08:57 Wednesday October 1st 2003



A Fianna Fail councillor in Co Monaghan has reportedly paid the Revenue Commissioners €66,000 in back taxes and penalties. The councillor in question is Patsy Treanor, who currently sits on the North-Eastern Health Board as a nominee of Health Minister Micheal Martin. Mr Treanor was also a member of Fianna Fail's national executive in the early 1990s. His troubles with the taxman are likely to create further embarrassment for Fianna Fail following last week's revelation that Limerick TD Michael Collins had made a six-figure settlement with the Revenue after being caught evading tax through a bogus non-resident bank account. According to reports this morning, Mr Treanor has blamed bad financial advice from a bank in the 1980s for his failure to pay his due taxes.

gurramok

How many more are there ?

Its not only FF where corrupt TD's\councillors reside.
Don't be surprised if more surfaces from the other 'established' parties.
Only in last few yrs a FG councillor in dublin(forget name) was named in planning scandal, as well as the former minister Peter Barry(correct name?) where the bank wrote of his mortgage loan worth £250,000 in the 80s.

There needs to be stricter controls in place to punish those guilty of corruption and stamp it out, at the moment they can get away scot-free (Collins).

Victor

Originally posted by gurramok
Only in last few yrs a FG councillor in dublin(forget name) was named in planning scandal

Yes, but what is the ratio of FF to non-FF?

Originally posted by gurramok
as well as the former minister Peter Barry(correct name?) where the bank wrote of his mortgage loan worth £250,000 in the 80s.

Unlikely, seeing as the Barry family (as in Barry's Tea) is worth tens of millions.

You may be thinking of the "loan instrument" that AIB gave Garret Fitzgerald for the GPA flotation (that AIB were guaranteeing) that went wrong. They took all his cash and called it quits. Garret Fitzgerald had left politics at that stage I believe.

gurramok

Yep, it was Garret Fitzgerald and not Peter Barry, how soon people forget the names, not you of course

from independent

AIB wrote off about £130,000 of a loan he owed, bank certainly does not miss money
I wish the bank would write off my loan

Ratio of FF to non-FF, FF is higher obviously but it seems most parties that had a hand in government has had a few members on the dodgy side:)

Xterminator

I'd point out that members of partys in opposition probably dont get offered as many brown bags, cause their influence on decisions is minimal.

Lets face it there more FF td's than any other partys, and they've been in government for the vast majority of the last 20 years ...

I think the only way to tackle 'white collar' crimes like this is to jail these poeple, in general population, (no like Lawlor with his cosy personal cell) for nice long sentances.
I see very little difference between say a bank robber and a corrupt politican. The main difference is opportunity.

I dont think the courts deal sufficiently harshly with while collar criminals, and there is little real deterrant.

X

Victor

Originally posted by Xterminator
I see very little difference between say a bank robber and a corrupt politican. The main difference is opportunity.

Well there is also the matter that (a) corrupt politicans make more money (b) said corruption kills more people than bank robbers (through loss of health funding, etc.).

Cork

Originally posted by Victor
Yes, but what is the ratio of FF to non-FF? Unlikely, seeing as the Barry family (as in Barry's Tea) is worth tens of millions.

You may be thinking of the "loan instrument" that AIB gave Garret Fitzgerald for the GPA flotation (that AIB were guaranteeing) that went wrong. They took all his cash and called it quits. Garret Fitzgerald had left politics at that stage I believe.

If something is wrong it is wrong. If that is FF or FG or Labour.

We should not have sets of standards.

What goes for one should go for all.

sceptre

Originally posted by Cork
If something is wrong it is wrong. If that is FF or FG or Labour.

We should not have sets of standards.

What goes for one should go for all.

Oh absolutely. Especially while they're in public office.

For the laugh , let's ignore the personal foibles of Fitzgerald and Haughey (judging by his debts Fitzgerald never had any sense in personal business while Haughey was a tax cheat and a probable arms dealer who never had any sense in personal business except for free money in brown envelopes) and consider the difference between the 400 grand written off for Haughey and the 200 grand (actually 130 but that's a mere detail) for Fitzgerald.

Examiner 17 February 1999 here. First two stories on the page. Tell me what the major difference is.

(note: I'm not defending either of them but there's a pretty important difference between the two that a six year old should be able to identify)

Cork

note: I'm not defending either of them but there's a pretty important difference between the two that a six year old should be able to identify

The net effect was the same. They owed banks big money & banks wrote off alot.

sceptre

Originally posted by Cork
The net effect was the same. They owed banks big money & banks wrote off alot.

I suppose we could play the game of me asking if you see the difference and you coming out with badly phrased "I don't see the question" responses so I'll skip a few steps.

The differences are rather simple:
1. Fitzgerald pretty much bankrupted himself to pay off as much of the debt as possible. Haughey told the bank to take it or leave it while spending 12 grand a month on banqueting and socks. One was honest reparation, the other was not.

2. Fitzgerald was a private citizen at the time of the final payment. Haughey was Taoiseach.

Spot the crucial difference? Thought not. Everyone else does though.

sceptre

Have we been googling for +"Garret Fitzgerald" +deal then?

Please don't insult the rest of us by saying there's any similarity between what you've just posted and anything else to do with crookedness in the real world the rest of us live in.

Incidentally, underwriting a risk isn't the same as a loan writeoff at all. Just in case you didn't know...

Grasping at straws isn't an Olympic sport yet.

Cork

Where are they rules distinguishing between Taoisigh ex and present in the metter of personal finances?

CJH has sold his home.

Fitzgerald pretty much bankrupted himself to pay off as much of the debt as possible

I think his problems related to investing in a aircraft leasing company?

sceptre

Hmmm, one of your posts has gone missing.

And yes, aircraft leasing company. GPA. It's all contained in the link I provided.

Before answering the "where are the rules..." question, I just want to be sure you're actually serious in asking the question about how ethics for people in public office does, doesn't and should work. Are you really asking for an answer (keeping in mind that straw-grasping is pretty unpleasant to watch)?