The Specialised Commercial Crimes Court imposed a six-year sentence for tax evasion this week.
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AMUKELANI Nicolas Malungani was sentenced to six years imprisonment by the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Kimberley on March 5 after pleading guilty to submitting two fraudulent VAT returns on behalf of Franti General Trading CC.
He also pleaded guilty to one charge of money laundering for irregularly receiving R399,641.
According to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) investigations unit, the fraudulent VAT returns were submitted for the June and August 2019 VAT periods, during which income received was not declared. This resulted in a loss of R1.7 million to SARS.
The investigation was conducted by the Criminal Investigations Unit of SARS in Kimberley.
Advocate Tebogo Moheta from the Specialised Tax Unit represented the State, while the case was heard before Magistrate Vernon Smith.
Meanwhile, the Hawks' Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team arrested 21 suspects, including 11 individuals aged between 34 and 48 years and 10 entities, in Kimberley, Polokwane, Pretoria and Bloemfontein on March 5 for fraud, corruption and money laundering.
Hawks provincial spokesperson Warrant Officer Nomthandazo Mnisi said the charges relate to the awarding of food parcel and stationery tenders by the Department of Social Development in Kimberley between 2018 and 2019.
“The former senior administration officer of the Department of Social Development allegedly circumvented procurement processes to ensure that the tenders were awarded to nine service providers. It is further alleged that some of the service providers were former Department of Labour officials, while others were relatives and friends,” Mnisi stated.
She added that gratifications were paid in return, with over R900,000 received from these entities.
The suspects were expected to make a brief appearance before the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on March 6.