Fraudster sentenced to 10 years for corruption in Mbombela
A woman was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for corruption at the Nelspruit Specialised Commercial Crimes Court recently.
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The Nelspruit Specialised Commercial Crimes Court found a former SARS employee, Penelope Hlengiwe Khumalo (46), guilty of fraud and corruption on Tuesday February 28, and sentenced her to 10 years’ imprisonment.
The Mpumalanga Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s (Hawks) spokesperson, Captain Dineo Sekgotodi, said the sentence followed a lengthy investigation that revealed Khumalo had assisted value-added tax vendors to complete and submit fraudulent returns in March 2010 with the aim to receive undue refunds from SARS.
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Sekgotodi said SARS had suffered a loss of R550 000.
Khumalo was sentenced to 14 years’ combined imprisonment on four counts of fraud. She was further sentenced to eight years’ collective imprisonment on two counts of corruption. She will effectively serve 10 years without the option of a fine.