Bookkeeper implicates family and friends in SARS scheme
A PORT Elizabeth bookkeeper implicated her sisters, friends and colleagues when she pleaded guilty this week to defrauding the taxman out of nearly R2-million.
Lindy Sharp, 42, said she came up with the scheme in July 2012.
“I became aware that if a person submits income tax returns to the South African Revenue Services [SARS] via their e-filing service for the tax years prior to 2008, that it was unlikely to get audited,” she said.
Lawyer Theuns Roelofse read Sharp’s detailed plea to the Port Elizabeth Regional Court on Monday.
Sharp said she registered for e-filing in 2010.
In July 2012, she submitted income tax returns for the tax years 1999 to 2007.
She said while she had not previously submitted income tax returns for that period, she inflated her Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Standard Income Tax on Employees (SITE) tax data.
The result was that SARS refunded her when she was not entitled to a refund.
That was when Sharp, a bookkeeper at EC Clean Agencies, a part of the Siyaya Group, decided to help others claim tax they were not entitled to – all the while benefiting herself.
“The first person I told about my fraudulent returns was my friend and colleague Natasha van der Nest,” she said.
“She asked me to do the same for her and from there everything snowballed.”
Sharp said she then helped her sisters, Wendy Fourie and Maureen Landman, neither of whom were registered taxpayers.
From there, she expanded her scheme to colleagues and even the friends of colleagues.
“The process I followed was to first cause the persons to be registered as taxpayers if they were not already registered. For this they had to supply me with their bank account details and identity numbers.”
She said she then asked a friend to register some of these people as employees within the Siyaya Group. The employer details were later changed by Sharp.
After registering them for e-filing, she obtained their login details. False tax returns on e-filing were created.
Sharp said once a refund was paid out, she requested a portion of the payout for her work done.
She said the money was then paid into her or her husband Riaan’s account, but that he was unaware of her unlawful activities.
Sharp said if her sisters managed to recruit people for the scheme, they, too, would receive a portion of the payout.
Twenty people – including Sharp’s two sisters, friends, colleagues and other acquaintances – were charged alongside her.
Sharp defrauded the taxman out of more than R1.9-million between July and October 2012.
SARS became aware of the situation when they interviewed her in November 2012 and she admitted to wrongdoing.
“I am willing to testify for the state. At this stage I can confirm they knew from the start that their refunds were illegally obtained,” Sharp said.
She said she was remorseful for her actions.
State advocate Lionel Kroon accepted the plea and the court convicted Sharp in accordance.
She will be sentenced on November 9.
Maureen Landman, Karin Erasmus, Natasha van der Nest, Dieter Maar, Christoffel Erasmus, Andrew van der Nest, Sharon Erasmus, Wendy Fourie, Josua Fourie, Geraldine Bowles, Petronella Bowles, Natasha McHugh, Patricia Butler, Charmaine Butler, Sullivan van der Nest, Helena Venter and Ockert Bowles will stand trial on September 22.
-Kathryn Kimberley
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