Hawks officers served a 48-year-old suspect with summons to appear before the court on 28 counts of fraud and contravention of the Tax Administration Act. Picture: Katrin Bolovtsova Pexels
Durban — A company director has been summoned to appear in court on 28 counts of fraud and contravention of the Tax Administration Act.
On Tuesday, Hawks members from the Durban Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team served a 48-year-old suspect with summons to appear before the court on 28 counts of fraud and contravention of the Tax Administration Act.
Hawks KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Warrant Officer Sibu Ncane said it is alleged that the suspect, a sole director of the company, submitted VAT refunds between March 2011 and July 2018.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) conducted an audit and it was established that the deposit reflecting income was overstated when compared to income sales declared in VAT returns. As a result, Sars suffered the actual prejudice of R11 153 934.93.
Ncane said a fraud case was reported at Point police station and the case docket was allocated to Hawks members for further investigation, hence the suspect was served with summons on Tuesday.
“She is expected to appear in Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on August 14,” Ncane said.
In another matter, Nceba Ntlokwana, 43, and his business entity, Squad Five Productions CC, will appear in court again at the end of the month for docket contents.
Ntlokwana and Squad Five Productions CC were arrested in June by the Mthatha-based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit of the Hawks on charges of fraud, forgery and uttering.
At the time, Eastern Cape Hawks spokesperson Captain Yolisa Mgolodela said it was alleged that in January 2020, the Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements (ECDHS) advertised a tender to appoint a service provider to supply and erect 292 temporary shelters in the OR Tambo region.
Among the pre-qualifications of the specification when the tender was advertised was that the prospective service provider must have a business in the OR Tambo region and previous experience in similar projects.
At the close of bids, reportedly the department received eight tender documents, including that of Squad Five Production CC.
Ntlokwana allegedly submitted a tender document with proof of business address in Mthatha, OR Tambo region, and a certificate of completion of works issued by eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality.
Based on the documentation submitted, both the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC) and the Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC) recommended and subsequently awarded the tender in the amount of more than R18.3 million to Squad Five Production CC.
Mgolodela said that during the supply and erection period, a whistle was blown about the irregular awarding of a tender, which led to the investigation by the Hawks.
The investigation revealed that the proof of business address on the lease agreement and the certificate of completion of work were indeed fraudulent, Mgolodela said.
The property owner reportedly did not know about the lease agreement and the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality rejected the certificate of completion of work.
“At the time of whistle-blowing, the department was already prejudiced by more than R6m,” Mgolodela said.
On June 26, Ntlokwana and his company were arrested by the Hawks and appeared in the Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crime Court where they were released on R10 000 bail. The matter was postponed to August 27 for docket contents.
WhatsApp your views on this story at 071 485 7995.
Daily News