Pretoria - Former ANC MP Vincent Smith on Tuesday appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Crimes Court, where tax fraud charges were added to graft offences he is facing.
Smith now stands accused of tax fraud, money laundering, corruption, and breaching the Financial Intelligence Centre Act.
Additional charges include failure to disclose to the Parliamentary Register of Members’ Interests, gratifications, cash deposits and money that was paid to him by Waterfall Golf Estate (Pty) Ltd and Clidet 69 (PTY) LTD.
The Investigating Directorate on Tuesday slapped Smith with further tax charges.
“The state has today provided the accused with the tax fraud docket, after the South African Revenue Services (SARS) charges were added against Smith and Euroblitz in November last year,” said Investigating Directorate spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka.
The tax fraud charges stem from Smith and Euroblitz’s failure to disclose taxable income from March 9, 2009 and July 11, 2018, totalling R28 million.
“Smith stands accused in his capacity as well as representative capacity for his company Euroblitz 48 Pty Ltd, he is charged with corruption for the gratifications he received from Bosasa in the form of security upgrades to his home in Gauteng.
“He further faces corruption charges by accepting further gratifications from Waterfall Golf Estate (Pty) Ltd and Clidet 69 (PTY) LTD.
“The accused also faces charges for accepting cash transferred into his bank account and his company from Bosasa and other people unknown to the state,” Seboka said.
The matter was postponed to April 6, 2022.
IOL