ALLEGED VAT FRAUDSTER ARRESTED

EASTERN CAPE – Buyisile Zama Nomesi (48), the director of Malk IAfrica Trading Ventures CC made a short appearance at the East London Magistrates’ Court and was released on warning after he was arrested by the East London Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team of Hawks on 18 May 2021 for charges of fraud.

It is alleged that Nomesi as the director of the company submitted South African Revenue Services (SARS) Value Added Tax (VAT) returns for the period between September 2012 and November 2015 in respect of which a nil consideration was declared as he claimed that he was never in business during that period whereas he was involved in numerous businesses with different municipal offices and departments in the Eastern Cape.

From the businesses he was involved in, it is reported that a sum of more than R19 million was paid into his business account of which just slightly over R2,4 million was supposed to be paid towards VAT but he never did.

The matter was reported by SARS to the Hawks for probing and that culminated into the arrest of Nomesi and his company yesterday, 18 May 2021. The matter was remanded to 31 May 2021 for a plea.