A Douglas businessman jailed for a £1m VAT fraud had been ordered to pay back more than £250,000.

Ian Andrew Duggua, 61, was jailed for four years in March last year after being found guilty of multiple frauds dating back to 2015.

Appearing in court via video link from Isle of Man Prison on Friday, Duggua was handed a confiscation order for a total of £255,214. He was given 28 days to pay and warned that if he did not, he would serve an extra two years in jail.

The court heard that the family home had been sold and Mrs Duggua had been entitled to half the proceeds, leaving her husband the sum available in the confiscation order.

His criminal activity had benefited him to a total amount of £1,682,561, the court was told.

Sentencing him last year, Deemster Graeme Cook said his actions were ‘planned’ and ‘sophisticated’ to evade large amounts of money to fund his ‘lavish lifestyle’.

The court heard Duggua 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 that Duggua, formerly of Vicarage Park in Douglas, 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.

Duggua’s defence said since his arrest, his client had suffered a double stroke, which ‘was likely caused by the stress’ and he was both embarrassed and remorseful.