GAUTENG – Three men aged 44, 51, and 52 appeared in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria and Palm Ridge respectively. The accused were all charged with fraud involving approximately R10.2 million tax scam on 24 February 2022.
It is alleged that the Atteridgeville based construction company, Suxeed Invest 130 and its director, Pule Louis Molele (52) as well as his co-accused and independent tax practitioner, Solly Ngobeni (44) submitted false tax return claims through e-filing in order to claim undue value added tax refund for the period between August and December 2019.
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) allegedly processed some of the refund applied by the accused of approximately R1.1 million. However, the entity’s internal forensic investigation team discovered that the claims were fraudulent. An immediate retraction was done and the money was transferred back to SARS.
The matter was reported to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime investigation in Pretoria for further investigation. A warrant of arrest was issued for the apprehension of the accused. They handed themselves in at the Pretoria office and they were charged.
The Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court granted Mkhasibi and Ngobeni R500 bail each. The case was postponed to 04 March 2022 for docket disclosure.
Meanwhile in Johannesburg, Elias Omen Magheje (51) also handed himself in on 24 February 2022 and was charged with fraud relating to approximately R9.9 million which he allegedly claimed from SARS for the period between November 2017 and January 2018.
The refunds were also transferred back to SARS after internal systems noticed some irregularities from the e-filing tax refund claims submitted by a Randfontein construction company, Machembe Constructions and Projects CC.
Magheje was granted R30 000 bail by the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. However, Magheje remained in custody due to lack of funds. The case was postponed to 31 March 2022 for docket disclosure.