Thoshan Panday fails to appear in court for tax fraud case

The tax fraud case against Durban businessman Thoshan Panday has been postponed again after he failed to appear in court.

The Durban Magistrate’s Court postponed the case against 52-year-old Thoshan Panday, who was absent, to 4 October 2024 to conduct an inquiry into his failure to appear in court.

Enquiry

Spokesperson for the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) Henry Mamothame said the head of Westville prison did not inform the court that Panday would not be attending court proceedings.

“Despite a medical certificate being produced by his legal representative and handed in to the record indicating that Panday is admitted in a private hospital in Durban, Magistrate Mr S Zuma deemed it befitting for the head of prison and the admitting doctor where he is allegedly kept for medical attention to be subpoenaed to account for his absence and for not informing the court and the state.”

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Mamothame said that the purpose of the postponement from September 9, when he was denied bail, to Wednesday was to facilitate the transfer of the case to the Durban High Court.

“The state requested a further detention warrant to be issued to extend his detention in his absence.”

Tax fraud

In a pending matter in the High Court, where he faces charges of racketeering, fraud, and corruption, Panday had been granted bail under stringent conditions, including the requirement to surrender his passport to the investigating officer.

However, Panday contravened the bail conditions by misrepresenting to the High Court in 2022 that he needed his passport to travel to several destinations in Europe in December 2022, returning in January 2023.

Panday is facing 27 counts of fraud, alternatively contraventions of tax legislation, which outlaw false returns in respect of VAT and annual income tax.

Before his arrest, Panday was charged together with eight others, including former KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Mmamonnye Ngobeni, with racketeering, fraud and corruption. This matter is ongoing.

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