Lusizo Henna has reportedly been sentenced to ten years in prison for scamming SARS of R3.1 million. Chef Sizo, a well-known celebrity chef, made headlines for his criminal activities.
The latest celebrity tax scandal has resulted in direct incarceration for those involved.
Lusizo “Chef Sizo” Henna, proprietor of Blaque Olive Chefs, was charged with cheating SARS for claiming undue VAT refunds of R 5.3M. The taxman paid him R3.1M.
According to SowetanLIVE, Henna laundered the money by transferring it to friends and family in under two weeks. The funds were apparently never recovered.
Henna was charged with six counts of fraud and fourteen counts of money laundering. The prosecution reasoned that only direct incarceration would be appropriate punishment for a crime of this gravity.
Why did he do this? The chef’s Twitter (X) bio seems like a confession to his crimes:
“The love of good food made me do it!”
Netizens were stunned by the news:
Zinhleputinn said:
“I don’t feel sorry for this guy.”
tshepo_maphepha warned:
“Please stay away from defrauding Sars, it never ends well. Learn or perish.”
King_Nkuli wrote:
“Again, financial crime is stupid. You’ll almost always get caught. Even if it’s 15 years from the event, data will always be there.”
South African radio personality, Sol Phendukaa responded:
“Chef cooking the books too. Not paying taxes is bad. Tricking SARS into paying you is silly.”
RamafaloMoses was disappointed:
“It is a pity because we don’t see the same energy of prosecution towards politicians on similar fraud Lusizo committed.”
