CONVICTED white-collar criminal Johannes van Staden’s actions have significantly impacted the government's ability to provide basic services to millions of South Africans, the Western Cape High Court heard yesterday.
Van Staden was found guilty on 43 charges of fraud, racketeering, money laundering and reckless lending after he defrauded the SA Revenue Service (Sars) of more than R250 million between 2005 and 2008 for his own financial gain.
According to evidence in the trial, Van Staden – representative vendor of Indo-Atlantic Shipping (Pty) Ltd, Southern Ocean Fishing (Pty) Ltd, Indo-Atlantic Seafoods (Pty) Ltd and Southern Ocean Marine Corporation (Pty) Ltd – falsely claimed to Sars that he exported fish worth more than R3 billion and Sars paid him out.
Van Staden bought two farms, game, luxury vehicles, an aircraft, took his family on holiday to Mauritius, bought his daughter a flat and took some employees to France during the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Yesterday, Sars criminal investigator Rory Cohen said the funds misappropriated by Van Staden could have, among others, paid 714 286 child grants for a month, fed 98 million primary schoolchildren with meals, and employed 2 163 school teachers.
“It is submitted that Van Staden’s conduct is aggravated by the fact that it was not 'only' tax evasion in the sense of underpaying tax due to Sars on income earned from productive economic activity, but the theft/misappropriation of monies paid to Sars by other taxpayers, and treating Sars as a bank,” Cohen said.
The case is one of the biggest fraud cases handled by the Western Cape High Court, and R2.3 million was spent on investigations.
The Hawks had, among others, its digital forensic labs, disputed documents labs, and technical support units working on it.
Cohen referenced a Sars statement and said during the 2014/2015 financial year, 256 people were convicted of fraud involving R196 million.
State advocate Freek Geyser argued for 25 years in jail and said Van Staden showed no remorse.
Van Staden’s legal representative, Carlo Viljoen, asked the court to be lenient, and said his client and his family had suffered as Van Staden had not been able to make a living.
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