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Johannesburg – A 49-year-old man was arrested by the Johannesburg-based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team on Tuesday.
Meshack Mpapadima Makofane, who was accompanied by his legal representative, came in to hand himself in at the Hawks office. He has been charged with fraud and contravening the Tax Administration Act.
It is alleged that between November 2017 and January 2018, Makofane and his co-accused, Elias Oman Magheje, 51, through their Cape Town-based construction company Machembe Construction and Projects CC, submitted fraudulent VAT claim invoices to the South African Revenue Service (Sars) via e-filing.
Following Sars’s internal analysis before approximately R9.9 million was transferred to the company's bank account, authorities discovered that the submitted documents were allegedly fraudulent.
The matter was subsequently reported to the Hawks for investigation which resulted in a warrant of arrest issued against the alleged perpetrators.
Magheje was arrested in February. He was later released on R30 000 bail by the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
Makofane, who also appeared at the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court yesterday, was granted R15 000 bail.
Both suspects are scheduled to appear in court on June 29 for docket disclosure.
IOL
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