Fraudster gets 8 years

The net has finally closed on a Belgian fugitive who swindled the SA Revenue Service out of millions.

Paul Feyen, 54, was sentenced to eight years in prison by the Blue Downs Regional Court, in Cape Town, yesterday, ending his four-year corruption spree.

After serving his sentence Feyen faces extradition to Belgium where he will spend another four years in jail.

Feyen and his six close corporations were convicted on 79 tax-related charges, 52 of which got him eight years in jail. He was also sentenced to fines totalling R60000.

Police swooped on Feyen in 2007 and he has been in custody ever since the Cape Town High Court declared him a flight risk in 2008.

Feyen fled Belgium in 2002 after he unsuccessfully appealed a conviction and four-year prison sentence for tax fraud. On his arrival in South Africa, he bought houses in Somerset West and Botrivier in the Western Cape.

Feyen used his close corporations to commit tax crimes, submitting fraudulent tax claims to SARS by creating false transactions and invoices for over four years.

He claimed more than R3-million from SARS and a further R3.6-million which was not paid out to him. The state only recovered R2.1-million from the sale of his houses.