A former senior official of the SA Revenue Service was sent to prison for 15 years by the Western Cape High Court.
|||Cape Town - A former senior official of the SA Revenue Service (Sars) was sent to prison for 15 years by the Western Cape High Court on Thursday
Edmund Fredericks was found guilty of racketeering, fraud and forgery.
While working for the receiver, Fredericks developed a scam that cost Sars R1.3 million.
In 2006, Fredericks and an accomplice, Aaron Carelse, would submit false VAT claims, using ghost companies.
The money from the claims would then be paid into an account created for the scam.
Judge Daniel Dlodlo also sentenced Carelse - who was not employed by Sars - to 15 years imprisonment.
During the proceedings, Dlodlo said Fredericks's actions amounted to him “biting the hand that fed him”.
He said his court had “a duty to warn would-be offenders that fraud against employers had to stop and would not be tolerated”. - Sapa