Johannesburg - Three men accused of being accomplices in one of the largest fraud cases to be heard in the Western Cape High Court were overcome with emotion when they were acquitted of the charges.
Marc Schoeman, Gerard Botha and Gary Newman stood anxiously before Judge Anton Veldhuizen who gave judgment after a marathon court case which heard the testimonies of more than 40 witnesses.
The mastermind behind the VAT fraud scheme, Johannes Erasmus van Staden, was on Monday found guilty of 35 of the 184 charges brought against him.
Van Staden was convicted of money laundering, fraud, racketeering and reckless lending in the company he used as a front between 2005 and 2008. Van Staden had defrauded the South African Revenue Service (Sars) of more than R250 million.
Van Staden conducted a multimillion-rand fishing business which caught, processed and exported fish in the province, operating through a company called the Indo-Atlantic Group of Companies. The enterprise is alleged to have conducted its business as a front for submitting false VAT returns for self-benefit.
The company had offices in the V&A Waterfront and on two floors of the Vogue House Thibault Square. The company owned more than 10 fishing boats.
Evidence led by the State during the trial in March showed that Van Staden and his co-accused falsely submitted to Sars that they exported more than R3 billion of fish during the period of January 2006 to October 2008.
The group also allegedly committed fraud through several companies.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Eric Ntabazalila said: “The method was that some of the accused approached certain service providers that included Mercedes-Benz, V&A Waterfront, PSI and others. They allegedly requested quotations for work to be done and upon receipt thereof, they would request tax invoices to obtain financing.
On delivering his judgment, Judge Veldhuizen described Van Staden as an evasive witness whose “memory failed him at convenient times, and at times, lied”. Under cross-examination, handwriting experts had confirmed that the tax returns were signed by Van Standen. He denied this. He later admitted to signing the majority of the tax returns.
With the money he fraudulently acquired, he bought his daughter a flat and purchased a game farm through his family trust which amounted to R500 000, showing that he was “living in luxury”.
Accountant Schoeman benefited R37m from Van Staden’s fraud scheme, but was not directly implicated in the crimes, said Judge Veldhuizen.
Botha was considered a “good witness” whose evidence was accepted by the court.
Botha was Van Staden’s subordinate and dealt with invoices and tax submissions. He was found not to be involved with Van Staden’s illegal operations.
Newman was also acquitted on all charges against him.
Defence advocate Carlo Viljoen will on Tuesday bring a fresh request for bail after his client’s freedom was cut short after judgment. Van Staden was remanded.
Cape Argus