A Cape Town woman was jailed for 12 years for defrauding the SA Revenue Service (Sars) of more than R6 million.
Former senior Sars official Bronwyn Tanya Masters Goldman, 35, and her husband Neil Goldman, 39, pleaded guilty and were sentenced in terms of an agreement in the Bellville Regional Court.
Bronwyn Goldman was sentenced to 15 years, of which three years were suspended for five years on condition she not be convicted of fraud, forgery, or uttering.
Her husband was sentenced to eight years imprisonment effectively, wholly suspended for five years on the same conditions. He would undergo 36 months of correctional supervision.
The couple admitted guilt on over 200 charges, including fraud and forgery, committed between 2005 and 2010.
The court took into account their willingness to plead guilty and the fact that they had four small children.
Magistrate Nobenguni Bungwa said two aggravating circumstances existed in Bronwyn Goldman's case. She had been in a position of trust and was employed to stop and detect the very type of fraud she committed.
The offences were carefully planned and executed over a long period of time, rather than being spur of the moment decisions.
Bronwyn Goldman worked for Sars as an audit team leader and was trained to use programmes necessary for administration of the VAT system.
Her responsibility was to allocate, oversee, and authorise VAT refunds to vendors. She manipulated the system and paid a total of around R6.08m into her husband's bank account, under the guise of VAT refunds for his panelbeating business.
She used the money to pay for her personal expenses, to keep the loss-making panelbeating business going, and to buy a house for R1.9m in cash.
Sars only managed to recoup a total of R1.9m of the money taken, according to National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Eric Ntabazalila.
The court heard the couple sold their house to pay back Sars and that the sheriff of the court sold off the panelbeating business.
Ex-Sars CTown official jailed
A Cape Town woman was jailed for 12 years for defrauding the SA Revenue Service (Sars) of more than R6 million.
Former senior Sars official Bronwyn Tanya Masters Goldman, 35, and her husband Neil Goldman, 39, pleaded guilty and were sentenced in terms of an agreement in the Bellville Regional Court.
Bronwyn Goldman was sentenced to 15 years, of which three years were suspended for five years on condition she not be convicted of fraud, forgery, or uttering.
Her husband was sentenced to eight years imprisonment effectively, wholly suspended for five years on the same conditions. He would undergo 36 months of correctional supervision.
The couple admitted guilt on over 200 charges, including fraud and forgery, committed between 2005 and 2010.
The court took into account their willingness to plead guilty and the fact that they had four small children.
Magistrate Nobenguni Bungwa said two aggravating circumstances existed in Bronwyn Goldman's case. She had been in a position of trust and was employed to stop and detect the very type of fraud she committed.
The offences were carefully planned and executed over a long period of time, rather than being spur of the moment decisions.
Bronwyn Goldman worked for Sars as an audit team leader and was trained to use programmes necessary for administration of the VAT system.
Her responsibility was to allocate, oversee, and authorise VAT refunds to vendors. She manipulated the system and paid a total of around R6.08m into her husband's bank account, under the guise of VAT refunds for his panelbeating business.
She used the money to pay for her personal expenses, to keep the loss-making panelbeating business going, and to buy a house for R1.9m in cash.
Sars only managed to recoup a total of R1.9m of the money taken, according to National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Eric Ntabazalila.
The court heard the couple sold their house to pay back Sars and that the sheriff of the court sold off the panelbeating business.
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