Businessman sentenced to jail weekends,works during the week to pay back SARS

A Cape Town businessman has been sentenced to weekend imprisonments and to work during the week to pay back money he defrauded from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) the court ordered last week.

CAPE TOWN, October 19 (ANA) – A Cape Town businessman has been sentenced to weekend imprisonments and to work during the week as he tries to pay back money he defrauded from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) the court ordered.

On Friday, Stirling Ray Abrahams, 56, owner of Blaizepoint Trading CC, was sentenced to a R100,000 (US$6,072) fine and 2,000 hours of periodic imprisonment after he was convicted in the Cape Town Regional Court.

Abrahams was convicted on charges of VAT fraud, income tax fraud and reckless trading.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, Abrahams is to report to the Goodwood correctional services on October 30 at 6pm where he will from then spend weekends in jail.

Ntabazalila said Abrahams will work during the week to pay back SARS and should he breach this agreement, he will be sent to jail for six years.

Abrahams defrauded SARS of R440,906 (US$26,774) in income tax, R1,041,872 (US$63,268) in VAT fraud and had two accountants who submitted income tax returns as well as VAT 201 returns on behalf of his business

Prosecutor, Advocate Thozama Plaatjie-Mbodlana of the specialist tax unit submitted to the court that accounts relied on information given to them by Abrahams.

“They used the information given to them to prepare the returns which included invoices and spreadsheets. Before the returns were submitted, they would sit with the accused to verify the information declared in the returns and upon his satisfaction, the accountants would submit such to the SARS,” Plaatjie-Mbodlana submitted.

The prosecutor said Abrahams did not provide the accountants with all the invoices issued and some of the invoices were withheld from them, which led to under-declarations of income tax and VAT.

They used the information given to them to prepare the returns, which included invoices and spreadsheets. Before the returns were submitted, they would sit with the accused to verify the information declared in the returns and upon his satisfaction, the accountants would submit such to SARS.

“Defrauding SARS is a very serious crime and is prevalent in our society. The accused was previously granted amnesty. He continued to be non-compliant. He used the tax money to fund his business and lavish lifestyle,” she said.

The successful prosecutions came as a result of a joint investigation by a SARS criminal investigator, James Trichardt, South African Police Service’s (SAPS’s) Colonel Mandisa Mbeki and Advocate Plaatjie-Mbodlana who guided them.

Ntabazalila lauded the team for its hard work and said it had ensured the court obtained all evidence in order to ensure a conviction and proper sentence.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Naomi Mackay