The Office of the Revenue Commissioners has filed a lawsuit in the US against entrepreneur Illann Power who is trying to stop bankruptcy proceedings he has started in the country.
According to the lawsuit filed in the US Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of Florida, Power listed a $955,900 claim in favor of Revenue on the filings of his bankruptcy filing. The claim for revenue, which he says arose in late 2018, accounts for nearly 90 percent of Power’s $1.09 million projected debt.
According to US bankruptcy filings, Power denies tax liability.
Power previously founded Incubrands, a spirits company that Bacardi acquired in 2015. He then founded Nohovation, a start-up venture fund, and Illann Power Companies, an investment firm.
Power is seeking Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a process in which a trustee is appointed to liquidate non-exempt assets to pay creditors. After the proceeds have been exhausted, the residual debt is discharged.
Revenue refers in the court document to an ongoing criminal case in Ireland regarding Power. In the court documents, Revenue alleged that Power filed false tax returns on behalf of Dublin Distilleries & Co Teoranta between March 2014 and December 2017 to wrongly claim the repayment of over €1.7 million.
Revenue is claiming the tax refunds allegedly filed by Power for actually unpaid VAT. The Irish Revenue Commissioners claim Power failed to report this alleged “fraudulent income” as income, meaning it was not taxed under Irish law.
In its objections, Revenue said it is seeking the entry of a judgment finding that the debt owed to it is non-recoverable.
The IRS then further alleges that Power failed to include details of assets, including bank accounts and any addresses where he lived in the past three years, in the timelines of his bankruptcy proceedings.
As a result, the IRS is seeking a judgment denying Power’s discharge from bankruptcy.
Earlier this year, Power, a well-known figure in Irish business, was arrested following an investigation by the state’s Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA).
Power was arrested in Carlow and brought before the Criminal Court before Judge John Hughes. He faces three charges of misrepresentation under Section 876 of the Companies Act 2014.
The charges follow a CEA investigation into Dublin Distillers & Co Teoranta in connection with the filing of allegedly false B1 annual returns with the Companies Registration Office.
In September, Power was allowed to travel to the United States on bail for a new job.
Documents filed with the Companies Registration Office last week show an application has been made to Dublin Distilleries & Co Teoranta by Revenue to appoint a liquidator. A liquidator was appointed by the courts.
Responding to the Sunday Independent, Power said the US revenue case relates to a controversial income tax liability in his bankruptcy plans, which he believes would not be automatically relieved anyway, adding he didn’t know “about what it went with all the fuss and still doesn’t.”
He claimed he had lived in the US for over a decade and was a citizen. Under IRS rules there, he claimed that 240-day income tax is normally deductible.
Power claimed he had not yet been served with the tax complaint.
Revenue declined to comment.
