Johan van Staden soaked up the sun in Mauritius and drove luxury cars with the R250 million he siphoned off the South African Revenue Service – enough cash to feed more than 714‚000 needy children for a month.The Cape Town businessman has been convicted on 27 counts ranging from fraud‚ racketeering‚ money laundering and reckless trading after defrauding SARS using fictitious VAT return claims.Arguments in mitigation and aggravation of sentence were heard at the High Court in Cape Town on MondayRory Cohen‚ a criminal investigator at SARS‚ told the court that the businessman’s fraudulent actions had cost the country R250 million that could have contributed towards old age pensions and care-dependency grants.The 54-year-old is facing possible life imprisonment for the crimes.Van Staden used his company‚ Indo-Atlantic Group‚ as a front to submit false VAT returns and spent the money on luxury cars and farms between 2005 and 2008. He and five others faced 192 counts ranging from fraud‚ racketeering and forgery to reckless trading but only Van Staden was convicted. The court slated Van Staden for living large and branded him a liar.His lawyer argued for a sentence of eight years so that he could return to‚ and contribute towards‚ society. He had previously employed 300 people and had learnt his lesson‚ the court was told.But Cohen painted a picture demonstrating the scale of the loss suffered by the state in the fraudulent scheme.“The amount for old pensions grants‚ disability grants and care-dependency grants currently stands at R1‚500 per person and the child support grant at R350‚” Cohen testified.“The amount identified as the actual loss to the state could have been used to pay old age grants‚ disability grant or care-dependency grants for at least 166‚667 people for a month or child support grants for 714‚286 children for a month.“It is evident that SARS‚ the government and citizens of this country have suffered a loss of over R250-million as a result of the fraudulent action committed by Van Staden‚” he said.“Van Staden’s actions will have an impact on the government’s ability to provide services to citizens of South Africa‚ including‚ inter-alia‚ social welfare‚ benefits to senior citizens‚ aid to schools and education to the disadvantaged and prejudice of a significant number of people.”Van Staden had earlier during the case claimed to know little about the financial side of his company‚ but his version was rejected by the court.According to the prosecution‚ Van Staden spent the money on two farms‚ numerous vehicles including luxury cars‚ game and an aeroplane which were registered in his family trust. He also chartered a luxury jet for a holiday in Mauritius with his family and took some of his employees to watch the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.Sentence will be handed down on Friday.- TMG Digital/Cape Newsroom..