RAM Nagrani late last week lost his legal battle against the commissioner of customs when the local appellate court ordered him to pay $19.8 million for trying to evade import duties on 1.2 million litres of coconut oil he imported from Costa Rica in 1994.

The $19.8 million represents just over a half of the original $39-million fine that Resident Magistrate Owen Parkins imposed on Nagrani and his company, NR and N Limited when he convicted them both in the Tax Court three years ago.

NR and N, which was admonished and discharged, won’t have to pay its half of the fine, for reasons which appellate court judges Henderson Downer, Paul Harrison and Clarence Walker will document at a later date.

Last week’s order by the judges, who started hearing the case earlier in the week, gave Nagrani the option of paying $10 million immediately and the balance of $9.8 million by May 1 or serving a two-year prison sentence.

Attorneys Ian Ramsay and Debbie Martin, who represented Nagrani and his company respectively, did not indicate an intention to appeal.