Pretoria – A director at the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has been served with summons instructing her to appear in court for alleged tax evasion.
“The 57-year-old female is expected to appear in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday, 12 April 2022, charged with contravention of income tax and value-added tax,” said Gauteng Hawks spokesperson Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu.
“It was reported by the South African Revenue Services (Sars) that the suspect, a director at the Electoral Commission of South Africa, failed to submit income tax returns between 2016 and 2021. As a result, the entity was not able to assess the suspect’s financial status for the stated period.”
The matter was reported to the Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation team in Johannesburg for further investigation.
“On Monday, the investigation team served the suspect with a summons to appear in court,” said Mulamu.
Meanwhile, last month, two companies and their directors were served with the summons to appear before the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court for alleged tax evasion involving personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies tender of about R10.3 million.
At the time, Mulamu said it is alleged a pharmaceutical company and an accounting firm, both based in Brooklyn, east of Pretoria, failed to register for VAT on PPE supplied to the Limpopo Department of Health in April 2020.
“The pharmaceutical company allegedly received a payment of approximately R10.3m and failed to declare the taxable R800 000 to the SA Revenue Service (Sars) for the period,” said Mulamu.
The matter was reported to the Hawks’ serious corruption investigation unit in Pretoria for further investigation.
“The investigation team successfully traced and served both male suspects, aged 40 and 44, in Florida Park and Krugersdorp (on Wednesday) together with their companies with a summons to appear in court on Friday, 25 March 2022,” said Mulamu.
IOL