Sars Fraudster Sentenced To Direct Imprisonment

Bellville, Western Cape: A 61-year-old man John Collins Februarie, has been sentenced to three years imprisonment after his plan to defraud the South African Revenue Service(SARS) of more than 4 million Rands was thwarted. Februarie was convicted on five counts of fraud, three counts of Contravention of the Tax Administration Act, four counts of uttering and six counts of the Contravention of the Value Added Tax Act.

The court sentenced him to a total of 16 years imprisonment but suspended some sentences with conditions that he is not convicted of fraud, tax evasion and forgery or uttering, and will effectively serve 12 years imprisonment. It then ordered some sentences to run concurrently, effectively sentencing him to three years imprisonment and also declaring him unfit to possess a firearm.

The sentence is the result of coordinated work by the Special Tax Unit of the National Prosecuting Authority, SARS Criminal Investigations Unit and SAPS who ensured that all the needed evidence was obtained and presented in court to ensure a conviction and a proper sentence. Senior State Advocate Lunga Ntshokoma, told the Bellville Regional Court that the accused was self-employed and has failed to pay VAT to SARS of R 355 263.

When he realized that he could not pay SARS, he devised a scheme of claiming a VAT refund to a sum of over 4 million rands.  This was done to set off the debt he owed SARS, he further submitted fictitious invoices to substantiate the claim for a VAT refund. SARS, fortunately, stopped the refund before it was paid over to him and the debt of R 355 263 remained unpaid. The offences were committed over 2 years.

Delivering the sentence, Magistrate N Tshiki said, “When one looks at the scheme employed and the planning, I am of the view that a sentence in terms of section 276(1)(h) or a suspended sentence will be excessively lenient. This was not the spur of the moment crime. The accused must have set down and thought of how he was going to defraud SARS.”

The National Prosecuting Authority welcomes the sentence and hopes this will send a strong message to other perpetrators of crime, the entity is thankful for the sterling work done by the investigating teams and partners in the criminal justice cluster.

Note: The NPA’s media statements are available on the website: www.npa.gov.za

Issued by:

Eric Ntabazalila

National Prosecuting Authority

Regional Communications Manager

Western Cape

Tel: (021) 487 7308Mobile: 073 062 1222

Email: entabazalila@npa.gov.za