A Cape Town couple has appeared in court in the city on charged of allegedly defrauding the South African Receiver of Revenue (SARS) of over R18 million, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) said.
Johannes Tobias Wessels, 49, and Yvonne Christine Wessels, 58, from Kraaifonten in Cape Town, appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday after they were served with a summons by the Hawks’ serious commercial crime unit, Western Cape Hawks spokesman Captain Lloyd Ramovha said.
“The Hawks-led investigation uncovered that during the period 2005 to 2011 the Wessels’ directed about 12 companies for which they allegedly submitted fabricated value-added tax (VAT) invoices to SARS and undeservedly received refunds to the value of over R18 million,” he said.
The couple face 421 counts of fraud and the matter had been postponed to November 1 for legal representations, Ramovha said.
In a separate matter, also on Thursday, the Hawks arrested a 53-year-old woman from Kuilsriver for alleged fraud amounting to almost R700,000, he said.
“[The woman] allegedly masqueraded as an estate agent for about a year, starting from October 2016; she did this despite not being registered as an estate agent. She allegedly convinced unsuspecting victims that she was selling bank repossessed properties and vehicles that she had acquired on auctions.
“Three victims fell for her tricks, two of them were allegedly sold the same property twice. One for R530,000 and the other for about R63,000, while the said property was never registered under her name. The third victim lost about R50,000, which the accused allegedly said was for a deposit on a vehicle.”
She was expected back in court on October 16 to face charges related to fraud, Ramovha said.
– African News Agency (ANA)
