A LIQUIDATED software company that has no funds or assets has been fined €140,000 for defrauding more than €265,000 from the Revenue Commissioners in VAT returns.

Big Picture Software Ltd was convicted in April for the crime by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury that was told the company had no money or assets to refund the Revenue Commissioners.

The jury took just 15 minutes to return guilty verdicts on each of 14 charges after a two-day trial.

The company with addresses at Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge, and Inns Court, Winetavern Street, Dublin, went into liquidation in 2004. It was represented at the trial by liquidator Ken Fennell, who was appointed after the dates the offences were committed.

Judge Patricia Ryan imposed a fine of €10,000 on each of the 14 charges. She had adjourned sentencing previously after being told by Bernard Dunleavy, for the liquidator, that there were no funds available to pay any fine the court might impose.

Dominic McGinn, prosecuting, noted at the trial that the company was not in a position to refund the defrauded VAT returns to the Revenue Commissioners. He told Judge Ryan the penalties available to the court included a five-year prison sentence and a fine of some €127,000.

Stephen Connolly, a former accountant for the company, told Mr McGinn at the trial that it stopped paying VAT returns on services provided by it in October 2001 because of a cash-flow problem generated by developing its own software products.

Mr Connolly said the company directors decided to put all its money into the new software products and pay returns based on estimates issued as standard by the collector general.

Mr McGinn explained that if a trader had outstanding returns, the collector general issued a form with an estimate of VAT to be paid based on the trader’s previous VAT returns.

Mr Connolly confirmed that the estimates from the collector general were significantly less than the true liability owed by Big Picture Software because the company had secured a contract with PSIR, affiliated with Bank of Ireland, about the time it stopped making VAT returns in 2001.

Sheila Hanley, an inspector of taxes, told the court the company had underdeclared by €265,398.