Johannesburg - The taxman and the Hawks are investigating the country’s three cellphone giants for allegedly providing a local tobacco manufacturer with cellphone records that were apparently used to spy on SA Revenue Service (Sars) investigators.
This week Sars opened a case against the three networks – MTN, Vodacom and Cell C – and local tobacco manufacturer Carnilinx and its directors, as well as private investigator Andre Grundling.
Sars alleges that Carnilinx – widely considered to be the biggest local independent manufacturer – spied on, bribed and threatened its investigators to stop a probe into its tax affairs, and hired the services of Grundling to do so.
Sars spokeswoman Marika Muller confirmed that a charge had been laid with the Hawks against companies and individuals.
“Sars takes any attempt to compromise its investigators or to deflect investigations away from the merits of the case very seriously.”
“Sars will pursue any attempts at the intimidation or improper influencing of investigators vigorously. This includes any attempts made at obtaining information about their private affairs and the abuse of access to records held by private companies,” Muller said.
Hawks spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko confirmed that the unit was investigating charges relating to the illegal interception of communications.
“A criminal case has been opened. I won’t say who the complainant is and who the suspects are, but we are investigating,” said Ramaloko on Saturday.
This week, neither Vodacom, Cell C nor MTN were aware of the charges or the investigation.
Vodacom spokesman Richard Boorman said the company had strict rules regarding the protection of customer information.
“In terms of law enforcement agencies, there are specific rules about how information can be obtained, and we adhere to those. If it is found that information was obtained irregularly, we will investigate and take action,” Boorman said.
Cell C spokeswoman Vinnie Santu said the network provided information only to the relevant authorities or law enforcement agencies if presented with a court order or directive to do so.
Graham de Vries of MTN said: “MTN has not had sight of, and do not have knowledge of, the exact detail of the purported charge that may have been submitted to the SAPS. Only once we have had sight of the particulars and have been given an opportunity to consider same will MTN be in a position to comment.”
Stephen Wingate-Pearse of KWP Attorneys, representing all the Carnilinx directors, said the company was unaware of the charges.
“We would require the charge sheet and statement in order to comment on the charges as well as the allegations,” Wingate-Pearse said.
Wingate-Pearse confirmed that Carnilinx had hired Grundling to establish the origins of an object found fixed to one of its vehicles in June last year.
Grundling established that it was a tracking device with a SIM card, said Stephen Wingate-Pearse.
“His investigations linked the SIM card to an employee of FSS Security, the security arm of the Tobacco Industry of South Africa (Tisa),” he said.
“Further investigation by the private investigator’s own reconnaissance revealed that the SIM card had been used prior to being discovered to make calls to the government enforcement offices,” he added.
He said the company had also notified the police of the device and been provided with a reference number.
Tisa chairman Francois van der Merwe denied the allegations.
Grundling did not respond to calls or SMSes.
Last week, The Sunday Independent reported that Sars had sent a hard-hitting letter to the two tobacco industry bodies, Tisa and the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association, warning it would lay charges against traders using illegal means to obtain information on Sars officials.
“We have obtained evidence that certain traders have been actively engaging in illegally obtaining personal and private information on Sars investigators… paying for the services of private investigators to do so,” said the letter.
“It would appear that it was these traders’ intention to seek ways to place undue influence on the Sars investigators so as to impact on the investigations against them.
“Sars will be laying criminal charges against these entities and individuals in due course,” the letter stated.
Sunday Independent