Three appear in court for alleged tax fraud totalling R8.2 million

Three people have appeared in court on fraud charges after they allegedly submitted false and fraudulent tax return claims to SARS on behalf of their companies.

Harisi Bukari, 45, Kudzaishe Jamescai Magura, 41, and Christel Pillay, 44, appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on charges of tax fraud on Thursday.

According to police spokesperson Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu, Bukari, the director at Mark Two Electronics in Johannesburg, allegedly submitted fraudulent tax return claims for the period 2010 to 2014. SARS allegedly suffered a loss of more than R2.6 million.

Pillay, who was based at another Johannesburg company, Multizone Safety Protective Wear CC, allegedly submitted more than R1 million tax return claims for the period 2011 to 2016.

Magura, a director at liquor distributor Siyabulela Trading Enterprise, allegedly submitted documents indicating that the business was not operating or accumulating any profit.

“Further investigation revealed that Magura’s company was trading and receiving remuneration for the period of 2012 to 2015. As a result, SARS allegedly suffered a loss of over R4.6 million for the tax return for the said period,” said Mulamu.

Bukari and Magura were granted bail of R10 000 and R5 000 respectively, and their cases were postponed to 13 November. Pillay was released on a warning and will appear in court again on 25 November.

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