An Eastern Cape company director accused of submitting fraudulent documents to the South African Revenue Services has been arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigations Unit (also known as the Hawks).
Siyabonga Yona, the sole director of Tamo and Mivuyo Trading Pty Ltd appeared in the East London Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
He is alleged to have submitted fraudulent Value Added Tax (VAT) return documents to the South African Revenue Services (Sars) on behalf of his company, Tamo and Mivuyo Trading, on June 23, 2021.
Provincial Hawks spokesperson Warrant Officer Ndiphiwe Mhlakuvana said Sars conducted its internal assessment and picked up red flags.
“The report states that as a result of fraudulent VAT returns that were submitted, Sars was prejudiced an amount of over R400, 000.
Mhlakuvana said it was further alleged that Yona had failed to disclose the company’s income to Sars for the period of 2021, and therefore Sars was nearly prejudiced to an amount of over R300,000.
The matter was referred to the Hawks, and Yona was arrested on Monday and charged with fraud and money laundering.
Yona remains in police custody until his bail application on October 9.
IOL News