By lynnette johns and Bianca Capazorio
The Hawks have cracked a slick Cape Town-based crime syndicate that allegedly scammed the taxman and banks out of hundreds of millions of rands in a complex kite-flying scam.
Top independent fraud investigators yesterday said this was one of the biggest fraud cases to ever reach the courts.
On Friday, top businessman Deon Barnard, 46, from Welgemoed, appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court and was released on R250 000 bail with strict conditions.
Barnard owns one of the city's biggest liquor distribution warehouses and is well known in the industry. He supplies alcohol to a range of bottle stores in South Africa and in Mauritius.
Earlier in the week his daughter Casandra Barnard, 26, business partner Ebrahim Adam, 56, and Christian van Wyk, 54, appeared in court. Casandra Barnard was released on R100 000 bail, and Adam and Van Wyk on R50 000 each.
In a joint operation dubbed "Litchi", the Hawks, Sars National Investigation Unit, Customs and Excise personnel and the police swooped on the group implicated in what they say could be fraud amounting to R800 million. Sars is charging them with VAT and customs and excise fraud amounting to R30m.
Nine residential and business premises were searched and a large amount of documentation and computer equipment was seized by the Hawks.
Yesterday lawyer William Booth said he had negotiated Barnard's return to Cape Town. Barnard had been in Mauritius on business when the other three were arrested.
He was apprehended at Cape Town International Airport.
The police allege the group registered trusts and opened business accounts with all the major banks. For each account they opened, they would receive a primary bank card and would subsequently apply for secondary cards.
The police say they developed a complex "kite-flying" scam by paying worthless cheques into these accounts, thereby establishing a false line of credit.
Standard Bank is one of the worst affected.
Fraud investigator Dannie Myburgh, director of investigation company Cyanre, who has worked extensively with a number of police units, the auditor general and major law firms, said yesterday the Barnard case was one of the biggest fraud investigations yet.
Myburgh said white-collar crime was on the increase, especially huge Ponzi schemes.
"Larger sums are involved, resulting in more complex investigations which take longer to quantify; some schemes can involve up to 3 500 people."
Anti-fraud investigator Frik van Eeden said that more than R2 billion annually was lost to white-collar crimes.
To have pulled off such a major scheme, which police say happened between February 2008 and June 2008, they could have had inside help, Van Eeden said.
Barnard has been placed under house arrest from 7pm to 6am.
He cannot have contact with any witnesses, his passport has been handed in, he may not contact the 15 businesses involved, and he cannot travel outside South Africa.
Cassandra Barnard, who is receiving psychiatric treatment, remains under house arrest at her mother's Century City home.
Van Wyk has to report to the Darling Street police station every Tuesday and Saturday between 8am and 6pm, and Adam must report to the Belhar police station daily.
They could forfeit their bail if they come within 50m of four addresses at which the state is expected to conduct search-and-seizure operations, or if they communicate with the owners or employees of 23 liquor stores.
They will appear again in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on June 10.