Daniel Maluleka, 56, was remanded by the Vaalbank Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga after appearing on Friday to face fraud allegations.
Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi, Mpumalanga spokeswoman for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, better known as the Hawks, stated that Maluleka was detained after it was discovered that he had defrauded the SA Revenue Service (SARS).
“This (arrest) follows after the investigation was carried forward by the Hawks Middleburg-based serious commercial crime investigation, whereby it was revealed that the accused, Daniel Maluleka was registered with the South African Revenue Service as a value added tax (VAT) vendor,” said Sekgotodi.
He was further registered with the SARS e-filing services.
“Maluleka colluded with two other suspects who are still to be arrested. They submitted value added tax returns for the different VAT reference numbers to SARS and information was supplied in the returns, resulting in refund being generated to the amount of R293,958,” said Sekgotodi.
The Hawks said the tax refund generated was deposited into Maluleka’s Capitec bank account.
“SARS suffered actual prejudice in the sum of R293,958. The investigation was finalised, and a J50 warrant was authorised and executed on Friday,” said Sekgotodi.
Maluleka was then arrested, charged, and appeared in court.
“He was remanded in custody. The case was postponed to Monday, September 30 2024, for bail application, pending the arrest of the other two suspects.”
