Douglas man jailed for more than three years over £1.1m VAT evasion

Ian Duggua pleaded guilty to multiple frauds

A Douglas man has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for evading more than £1.1m in VAT.

Ian Andrew Duggua was found guilty of multiple frauds dating back to 2015.

Deemster Graeme Cook said his actions were "planned" and "sophisticated" to evade large amounts of money to fund his "lavish lifestyle".

"While you did that, the revenue of the Isle of Man suffered", he said when sentencing Duggua to a total of three years and seven months in prison.

Douglas Courthouse heard the 60-year-old had created false invoices and moved money between accounts across three companies, Lavatec, Technocrats and Meddon, all managed under his umbrella company CLW Management.

He also avoided routine inspections by VAT inspectors.

The court heard Duggua first committed the offence to pay off a debt with the Canadian tax authority, however he later used the money to pay for family holidays and his children's university fees.

Deemster Cook said he had abused his position of authority to carry out a series of frauds over a sustained period of time when he carried out "lavish spending".

Through his "dishonesty", he had "denied the Isle of Man £1.1m", Deemster Cook said.

Duggua's defence said since his arrest, the 60-year-old had suffered a "double stroke", which "was likely caused by the stress" and he was both "embarrassed" and "remorseful".

Correction: An earlier version of this story has been updated to correct an error in sentence length