A 62-year-old Durban man will spend the next seven years in prison for duping the SA Revenue Service (Sars) into paying him R11.7m through fictitious tax returns in 2013.

Rabin Balmint, from Newlands West, was sentenced to an effective seven years’ imprisonment in the Durban magistrate's court after he pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud and one count of VAT (value added tax) fraud against Sars.

The offences amounted to about R11.7m.

National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Natasha Kara said Balmint submitted fictitious tax returns via e-filing for his company Kiddo Trans CC in 2013.

“These were done by creating fictitious supplier invoices and he received a tax rebate of R9.7m. He also failed to pay VAT of R2m due to Sars by the company. He was caught after a Sars audit revealed the invoices were fictitious.”

Kara said state advocate Nirvana Rambali spelt out the impact of Balmint’s actions.

“Rambali told the court tax revenue is used to develop infrastructure and provide services to the poorest and most vulnerable in our country. She said Balmint’s dishonesty was fuelled by greed and had caused a substantial loss to the fiscus.”

A preservation order to the value of R500,000 was obtained by the Asset Forfeiture Unit against Balmint.

Balmint was sentenced to an effective seven years' direct imprisonment for fraud. He was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for the VAT fraud, which was wholly suspended for five years on the condition he does not commit the same offence during the period of suspension.

“During sentencing the court deviated from the minimum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment due to Balmint’s age, the fact that he was a first offender and he pleaded guilty. The court saw these as substantial and compelling reasons to deviate,” Kara said. 

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