The Kimberley Specialised Commercial Crime Court found a 62-year-old woman guilty of fraud, forgery and uttering and sentenced her to five years of direct imprisonment.
THE KIMBERLEY Specialised Commercial Crime Court found 62-year-old Davida Marie de Wet guilty of fraud, forgery and uttering, as well as contravening the Tax Administration Act 28 of 2011.
De Wet was convicted and sentence was passed on February 6, 2024, at the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court by Magistrate Danie Schneider.
She was found guilty of 18 counts of fraud, 102 counts of forgery and 103 counts of uttering.
The acts of fraud were committed during the period July 31, 2013, to August 24, 2016, when 18 VAT201 returns were submitted on behalf of Wildfire Trading 138 CC, claiming false value-added tax (VAT) refunds and causing prejudice to the SA Revenue Service (Sars).
The total value of the prejudice amounted to R985,136.72, consisting of R682,932.76 actual prejudice (paid out) and an amount of R302,203.96 potential prejudice (not paid out).
De Wet fabricated tax invoices for the purchase of lucerne, upon which VAT was claimed from Sars, while no VAT was actually charged on those transactions.
The forgery was committed through the creation of 102 false invoices to submit to Sars during audits performed on the submitted VAT201 returns.
This was in the form of supporting documents to support the false claims.
The uttering charges related to the false invoices that were submitted to Sars as proof to substantiate the amounts claimed in the 18 false VAT201 returns.
De Wet was sentenced to five years direct imprisonment on the 18 fraud charges.
She was sentenced to a further 10 years imprisonment for the 102 forgery charges and 103 charges of uttering. The 10-year sentence was suspended for five years.