An acting assistant commissioner of the Inland Revenue Division (IRD) has been granted bail on 20 charges related to tax fraud. Finbar Boland, 59, appeared before Master Margaret Sookraj-Goswami on July 15 and was granted $200,000 bail.
Boland, of St James, was charged following investigations by Adesh Ramdeo, an investigator with the Criminal Tax Investigation Unit of the IRD. Represented by Ravi Rajcoomar, SC, and John Heath SC, Boland faces charges of making false statements in tax returns, claiming tax refunds he was not entitled to, and unlawfully obtaining refund cheques.
Specifically, the charges allege that Boland falsely declared tax refunds he was not entitled to from 2014 to 2018. He claimed personal tax allowances and failed to declare additional sources of income in his tax returns, depriving the state of tax revenue totaling significant amounts over the years.
In addition to the tax fraud charges, Boland was also charged with money laundering. He allegedly deposited income tax refund cheques obtained through false representations into his personal bank accounts at various banks.
Boland was arrested on July 8 at the IRD office in Port of Spain. More details on the case are expected to unfold as the legal proceedings progress.
