Mthatha doctor arrested for alleged tax evasion and fraud

A 47-year-old medical doctor has been arrested following allegations of fraud and contravention of the Tax Administration Act.

Provincial spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), commonly known as the Hawks, Lieutenant Colonel Avele Fumba said the arrest comes after a collaborative effort by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the South African Revenue Service (SARS), under the Honey Badger Project.

Fumba said the doctor was arrested on Tuesday.

"Preliminary investigations indicate that SARS allegedly identified tax discrepancies during routine assessments, raising suspicions of possible alleged tax evasion.

"The matter was referred to the Hawks for further investigation. Findings suggest that the accused allegedly failed to submit personal income tax returns for the 2021 to 2023 tax years and repeatedly ignored compliance reminders from SARS," said Fumba.

Fumba said the doctor is expected to appear at the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court on February 6, 2025.

Last year, IOL reported that a medical doctor was found guilty of defrauding SARS R17 million by not submitting his tax returns.

Fabian Royston Tun was sentenced in the Kimberley Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in the Northern Cape after he was found guilty of eight counts of failure to submit Personal Income Tax Returns (PIT) and 42 counts of failure to submit Value-Added Tax returns (VAT201).

The court heard that Tun owned a medical practice called F. R. Tun Practice and failed to submit personal income tax returns from 2015 to 2022, despite receiving income amounting to over R17 million.

“Even though the accused did not submit his tax returns during the said tax periods, the accused received taxable income, and such taxable income was not declared to the Commissioner of the South African Revenue Service,” explained NPA spokesperson Mojalefa Senokoatsane.

For the failure to submit Personal Income Tax returns, he was sentenced to two years, wholly suspended for five years on the condition that he is not convicted of the same offence during the suspension period.

“For the failure to submit Value Added Tax returns, the accused was sentenced to a fine of R1,000 or four months imprisonment per count.”

The NPA stated that Tun has since submitted all his outstanding Personal Income Tax Returns and Value-Added Tax returns.

sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za

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