A former South African Revenue Service employee and registered tax practitioner has been sentenced to an effective six years in prison following his conviction for fraud, forgery, uttering, and failing to keep proper records.
The Bellville Regional Court convicted Michael Benson on 11 counts of fraud for submitting false VAT201 returns and claiming undue value-added tax refunds, 27 counts of fraud for submitting false documents to SARS to justify the false VAT claims, 24 counts of forgery, 24 counts of uttering, and one count of failing to keep proper records.
State Advocate Wimpie Els of the Specialist Tax Unit led evidence to that, over 25 months, Benson submitted 11 fraudulent VAT201 returns to SARS, claiming refunds based on wholly fabricated information, said Eric Ntabazalila, the National Prosecuting Authority’s spokesperson in the Western Cape.
“Upon being requested to provide substantiating documentation, he committed further fraud by producing forged invoices, bank statements, and municipal contracts, thereby committing further offences of forgery and uttering,” Ntabazalila said in a statement on Monday.
Benson worked as a VAT auditor and compliance officer at SARS from 1997 to 2000 and was a qualified and registered tax practitioner when the offences were committed. During this period, Benson submitted 11 false VAT210 returns to SARS, fraudulently claiming R1.7 million, resulting in SARS paying R1.58m into his bank account. SARS blocked the final claim upon discovering the fraudulent claims, Ntabazalila said.
“Upon being requested by SARS auditors to furnish substantiating documentation for the aforesaid claims, Benson fraudulently produced forged tax invoices purporting to justify the VAT refunds received. These forged documents were presented to SARS as being genuine invoices.”
Els argued that Benson did not voluntarily desist from his unlawful conduct. This occurred solely because of SARS’s intervention, Ntabazalila said.
“Even after detection and a formal request to provide proof of the claimed amounts, he persisted in his fraudulent scheme by fabricating additional false invoices, bank statements, and municipal documentation to legitimise the misappropriated funds. He has made no restitution to SARS following the discovery of the offences. His conduct was deliberate, premeditated, and executed with meticulous planning.”
Despite Benson’s plea for leniency, the court found that he acted with knowledge and intent and therefore bore full responsibility for his conduct.
The court sentenced Benson to 10 years’ direct imprisonment for the 37 counts of fraud taken together for purposes of the sentence. The court suspended four years of his sentence on condition that he is not convicted of fraud, theft or attempt thereto, during the period of suspension.
For the charges of forgery and uttering, he was sentenced to four years’ direct imprisonment, suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted of forgery or uttering, during the period of suspension.
For failure to keep proper records, the court fined Benson R4 000 or, in default, to undergo eight months imprisonment, suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted of contravening section 234(e) of the Tax Administration Act during the period of suspension.
The court declared Benson unfit to possess a firearm in terms of section 103 (1)(g) of the Firearms Control Act. It authorised a warrant for search and seizure for all competency certificates, licences, authorisations, and permits issued to him in terms of section 103(4) of the Act, and all firearms and ammunition in his possession.
