The Cape Town Magistrates’ Court slapped Daniel John Dekker, 26, with a five prison sentence today (Friday) after he was convicted of swindling the revenue service of more than R700 000.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said in a statement Dekker had duped factory workers into believing they had been over taxed by their employers and that they were entitled to tax refunds from SARS.
“He used his skills and knowledge of the systems to create fraudulent Income Tax Refunds for the taxpayers,” the statement said.
“He drew clients by word of mouth and mostly rendered services to factory workers who had no detailed knowledge of the SARS system.
“SARS embarked on an in depth investigation and discovered that the accused fraudulently submitted false and incorrect information via e-filing to SARS in respect of many taxpayers over a period of more than 45 months. This resulted in large amounts of income tax refunds paid out to individual taxpayers that the taxpayers were not entitled to.”
Prosecutor Tillette Berry proved that Dekker had pocketed R115 392.41. Berry said: “The court acknowledged that the accused did not only defraud SARS but also the individual taxpayers. And by doing so he targeted the poorer communities who had no knowledge and placed their trust in him.”
Dekker will serve two years in jail, as three years were suspended.
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