NOORDWESTER – LICHTENBURG - Tebogo Vincent Mashabe (38) representing Tebocent Trading and Projects (Pty) Ltd and in his personal capacity together with his wife, Refilwe Fancy Mashabe (39) made their first appearance before the Mmabatho Magistrate’s Court facing charges of fraud and money laundering.
The pair was arrested by the Hawks Mmabatho Serious Commercial Crime Unit. Their arrest comes after a thorough investigation between South African Revenue Services (SARS) and DPCI as guided by the Specialised Tax Unit through the Jan Vas Project.
This project involves a fraud syndicate that operates in the North West, Gauteng North, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The syndicate has been defrauding SARS of huge amounts of money through submitting fraudulent VAT returns. The syndicate used companies that are registered at SARS as taxpayers. The companies used tax practitioners and accountants as e-filers for the companies.
The court heard that Tebogo Vincent Mashabe is the sole director of Tebocent Trading and Projects (Pty) Ltd which was registered as a company on 14 February 2012. This company further registered with SARS for Value Added Tax (VAT) and Company Income Tax (CIT). Tebogo Mashabe also registered with SARS for e-filing.
The state alleges that the e-filing profile of Tebocent Trading and Projects (Pty) Ltd was frequently accessed by Tebogo Mashabe, the tax practitioner, and the accountant in submitting fraudulent VAT returns from 8 December 2012 to 24 August 2021.
A total of 11 fraudulent VAT returns were submitted to SARS during this period and a total amount of R3 million was claimed through the fraudulent VAT returns.
A sum of R2 million was paid by SARS into the bank accounts of Tebocent Trading and Projects (Pty) Ltd. Investigations revealed that immediately after SARS made a transfer of a sum of money relating to the fraudulent claim to Tebocent Trading and Projects (Pty) Ltd, Tebogo Mashabe would redirect the money to his personal bank account, his wife’s bank account and six other accounts. The money would then be used for items that had nothing to do with the business of the company.
In court, each accused was granted bail of R10 000, with normal bail conditions of not interfering with investigations or witnesses or leaving the country. The case has been adjourned to 30 September for the arrest of other suspects.
The Director of Public Prosecutions in the North West, Dr Rachel Makhari, commended the collaboration between the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), South African Revenue Services (SARS) and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (DPCI) that culminated in the accused’s court appearance.
