The owners of a chain of coffee shops, which has branches in Newry, Rostrevor and Slieve Gullion, are under investigation by HM Customs and Revenue (HMRC) into a suspected £1m tax fraud.
Newry-born brothers Damien and Adrian Garvey own and operate the Synge and Byrne cafes, as well as managing the O’Brien’s sandwich outlets across Northern Ireland.
On Wednesday last, HMRC conducted searches on two private and 5 business addresses in the Newry area, as well as a further nine business premises across the north. More than 120 officers were involved in the operation during which computers and business records were seized.
Two men, aged 49 and 47, and a 39-year-old woman, all from the Newry area, were arrested and later bailed as part of the ongoing investigation.
Following the raids, a solicitor representing the brothers issued a statement saying: “Our client is cooperating fully with the relevant authorities and is hopeful they will return to normal business in the coming days.
“This investigation relates to accounting technicalities particular to café/outlet industry, and our client is confident the findings will ultimately vindicate them.”
Several of the outlets were closed during the search operations and, on behalf of the owners, the solicitor apologized to customers for the “temporary inconvenience” and offered assurance that the business would return to normal as soon as possible.
By Thursday most of the outlets were operating normally.
