Last member of Sars tax fraud syndicate sentenced

Pretoria - The last member of a syndicate that systematically defrauded the SA Revenue Service (Sars) has been given two prison sentences of 15 years each, Sars said in a statement.

Syndicate members included former Sars employees Sydney Moyo (whom Sars calls the mastermind of the scam), his wife Jane and Richard Bopape.

The syndicate offered jobs to unemployed residents in Mamelodi and Soshanguve in return for copies of their identity documents. These identity documents were then used to "register" the victims as taxpayers. Fraudulent IRP5 certificates were subsequently produced, indicating that their “employers” had deducted excessive tax from their salaries.

This resulted in fraudulent tax “refunds” being paid out and channeled into the bank accounts of members of the syndicate.

Sars said the 16-member syndicate had systematically defrauded the the agency of approximately R26m over a period of seven years.

Andries Seoketso (alias Andrew Molefe or Druza), was sentenced in the Gauteng North High Court last week in The State v Moyo and others, to 15 years imprisonment for fraud and 15 years for contraventions of The Proceeds of Crime Act. The sentences are to be served concurrently.

Seoketso now joins the fifteen other syndicate members who were sentenced in 2014 to a combined 279 years' imprisonment on charges of racketeering, money laundering and fraud. Some of these sentences also run concurrently.

Judgment was handed down on the syndicate in December 2013 with only fourteen members appearing in court. Two members, Seoketso and Sello Mothongwane, absconded and warrants were issued for their arrest. Mothongwane was arrested in August 2014 and sentenced in December that year.  Seoketso was arrested in April this year.

The State closed its case in August 2013 after leading testimonies of 118 witnesses.

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