A 39-year-old man is due to appear in court in East London for the second time on Friday in connection with fraud amounting to R12m.
Arshad Mohamed made his first appearance before the East London Magistrate court on Wednesday following his arrest last Thursday by the Serious Commercial Crime unit of the Hawks at the O.R. Tambo International Airport.
“The Hawks circulated Mohamed as a wanted suspect, therefore, as soon as he entered the country airport officials notified the Hawks who then arrested him,” said Hawks Eastern Cape spokesperson, Captain Anelisa Feni.
“It is alleged that Mohamed is an accomplice of Enver Mohamed (52) and Ali Soomer (54) who were both found guilty during May 2016 by the East London Regional court for Fraud,” she said.
Feni said that Enver Mohamed was sentenced to 20-years imprisonment while Soomer was sentenced to pay a fine of R1m. They were arrested by Serious Commercial Crime in 2010.
Feni said “from approximately 2007 Enver Mohamed and Soomer recruited a number of South Africans, who were originally foreign nationals, to open companies and bank accounts.’
“These companies and bank accounts were registered in the names of those who were recruited. It is alleged that Arshad Mohamed is one the people who were recruited and opened companies and bank accounts,” Feni said.
“These companies traded with each other in terms of invoices, no cash was used. Between the years 2007 and 2009 the companied then submitted false Value Added Tax (VAT) returns to the South African Revenue Service (SARS).”
“During this period SARS paid out a total of R12 million to these companies. The money paid to the companies’ bank accounts would then be transferred into Enver Mohamed’s bank account who would then transfer it into various accounts including Soomer’s bank account,” said Feni.
She said Hawks investigations into this case are continuing and more arrests are expected.
