Extortion does not pay for Beyers Park woman
The charges stem from an audit SARS did of a Johannesburg cash and carry business in June 2013.
A Beyers Park woman, who tried to extort R1.9-million from the director of a Johannesburg business, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment by the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on March 12.
Jeanette Bekker (50), of Circuit Road, Beyers Park, and an accomplice, Joani Fourie (26) of Elsburg, Germiston, were charged with corruption and extortion and also faced two alternative charges to count one (corruption – accepting a benefit).
They had pleaded not guilty to all charges on March 28 last year.
Fourie was found not guilty on all charges on January 17, while Bekker was convicted of all charges on March 12.
The audits resulted in VAT refunds due to the business being suspended for about a year.
On July 28 in 2014, SARS paid all outstanding VAT refunds, amounting to R49 640 774, 29, into the business’s bank account.
Pretending to be a SARS employee, Bekker contacted the director of the business and demanded payment for services rendered in securing the release of the VAT refunds from SARS.
She demanded four per cent of the total refund paid, which was an amount in excess of R1.9-m.
Bekker told the director this amount would be shared with other SARS employees who allegedly assisted in the release of the suspended VAT refunds.
Furthermore, she threatened the director with other future stoppages/suspensions of VAT refunds due to his company, if he did not not co-operate.
The director of the business reported the matter to the authorities and an entrapment operation was set up.
On August 2 in 2014, near East Rand Mall, both accused were arrested and found in possession of R20 000 cash which they had collected from the complainant as part of the down payment for the required fee they had told him about.
It is unknown how the accused managed to access the company’s tax profile and gained knowledge of its tax affairs with SARS, including the tax refund which was paid to the company.
Bekker has a previous conviction for 26 counts of fraud (March 2016, Brooklyn). On the first 10 of these counts she was sentenced to three years’ correctional supervision and the remaining 16 years were wholly suspended.
She also has a 2017 conviction for two counts of contravening the Tax Administration Act in relation to undue tax refunds.
Magistrate Suren Harichand presided and the prosecutor was Mr Sereme from the Department of Public Prosecutions’ Tax Unit.
