Africa-Press – South-Africa. Controversial businessman Kishene Chetty and two co-accused have made their first appearance in court on charges of fraud and tax evasion of almost R14 million.
Chetty, Milanzi Harry Milanzi and Ravin Ramlall made a brief appearance in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Thursday following their arrests the day before.
The attorneys of all three men indicated that they would be applying for bail and claimed they were before the court in an unprocedural manner, and also complained about their arrests.
Chetty’s attorney said he could have been informed to bring his client to court.
They also raised the issue of the case being linked to another, but did not explain further.
The State, who will be opposing the bail applications, dismissed the issues raised by the defence and told the court they had obtained the arrest warrants from a senior magistrate.
The senior magistrate granted the warrants knowing the circumstances around why the arrests had to be effected.
These issues may be further canvassed during the bail applications, which are expected to be heard on Friday.
Alleged crime
According to the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigative Directorate (NPA ID), the three men face 18 counts of fraud, one count of misrepresenting the broad-based black economic empowerment status of an enterprise and five counts of tax evasion.
It is alleged that the accused worked together to make misrepresentations in the tax returns of a company called Isimbali Trading and Projects (PTY) Ltd.
“They also failed to declare value-added tax levied on the amounts charged to the SAPS [South African Police Service] to SARS [South African Revenue Services],” NPA ID spokesperson Sindisiwe Seboka said.
This resulted in SARS suffering prejudice in the amount of R13 942 216 between 2015 to 2021.
It is alleged that Milanzi was the sole director of Isimbali, while Chetty was the only one who had the authority to transact on the account of the company.
Meanwhile, Ramlall allegedly facilitated the submissions of the tax returns.
Chetty is facing a separate criminal case where he is accused of fraudulently pocketing millions from a police personal protective equipment (PPE) tender.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
