Businessman guilty in tax fraud case

In 2007, Van Staden, who ran a multibillion-rand fish export business, flew his staff to France to watch the Rugby World Cup.

His family had it all – luxury assets including an aeroplane and a game farm.

But yesterday, Van Staden spent his first night in jail after the Cape Town High Court found him guilty of defrauding the SA Revenue Service of more than R250-million in fictitious VAT return claims.

He used his company, Indo-Atlantic Group, as a front to submit false returns and went binge shopping between 2005 and 2008.

His purchases included two farms and luxury vehicles, and he also chartered a jet for a holiday in Mauritius for him and his family.

In what has been dubbed one of SARS’s biggest fraud cases in recent years, Van Staden unsuccessfully tried to convince the court that the R500 000 Mauritius trip was for business.

Van Staden and five others faced 192 counts ranging from fraud, racketeering and forgery to reckless trading.

The state called about 40 witnesses. But only Van Staden was convicted yesterday.

“I must immediately say that we are of the opinion that [Van Staden] was a very bad witness,” Judge Anton Veldhuizen said.

“He was evasive and relied on his memory failing him when it suited him. He not only gave contradictory evidence but, at times, lied.”

E-mails Van Staden sent to his acquaintances, urging them to create fraudulent invoices when SARS inquired about suspicious claims, sunk him.

He falsely told SARS that his company exported more than R3-billion worth of fish between January 2006 and October 2008.

He even claimed VAT for the purchase of two fishing vessels he never bought.

“It is clear that [he] lived in luxury on the money that SARS’ claims provided,” Veldhuizen said.

Van Staden will apply for bail today pending sentencing procedures.

His counsel, Carlo Viljoen, said he needed time to prepare for the bail application.