Neath RFC owner Geraint Hawkes banned from being director

The owner of Neath RFC and his mother have been banned from being company directors for 10 years after failing to declare more than £1.5m in VAT.

Geraint Hawkes, 48, and Janis Hawkes, 75, were given the ban at a hearing in Cardiff on Wednesday.

Judge Andrew Keyser QC said the pair had been involved in a "serious case" of unpaid VAT.

The decision followed a hearing in the High Court Chancery Division sitting in Cardiff last month.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills brought the legal action against F G Hawkes (Western) Limited after it emerged the family-run company had under-declared £1,523,452 of VAT between April 2010 and April 2011.

Mr Hawkes said he knew nothing about the under-declaring but the judge deemed his evidence to be "wholly incredible" and "deliberately false".

The company accounts were also found to be "materially misleading" in regards to a loan made to Neath Rugby Limited.

In 2010, a £742,805 debt was said to be owed by the club to F G Hawkes Limited but was never intended to be repaid.