Riches up in smoke?

THE palatial mansion belonging to Iris Mordaunt in Florida, in the west of Joburg, makes her neighbours' houses look like matchboxes.

But what her neighbours don't know is that court papers allege that the 50-year-old woman amassed her wealth through criminal activities.

This week, Mordaunt appeared in the Wynberg Regional Court, charged with six others, for defrauding the South African Revenue Service (Sars) of nearly R120-million.

Mordaunt was the last suspect arrested in connection with the alleged fraud, which involved the exporting and importing of cigarettes from Zimbabwe to Mozambique.

According to the charge sheet, the cigarettes were then shipped out of Maputo to countries such as France, the UK, Canada and Germany.

It is alleged that Mordaunt, with the help of three Sars employees - Nkhensani Maluleka and couple Frank and Shereen Abt - shipped the cigarettes tax-free to as many as 18 countries.

Walter Eleazar Cyril, owner of the storage facility in Maputo allegedly used by Mordaunt and company, is in custody, as are Litisha Cyril-Pillay and Waldo Headger.

Arrests in connection with the case have been made since 2011.

Maluleke and the Abts are charged for allegedly stamping fraudulent shipping documents to clear the goods' entry into the various destination countries.

The seven face 205 counts for running the racket between December 2010 and April 2011.

This is not the first time that Sars employees have been arrested for alleged fraud against their employer.

Sars spokeswoman Marika Muller said more than 35 employees and former employees have been arrested in the past 12 months.

"Tax fraud is a challenge to all tax bodies across the world and South Africa is no different.

"We would, however, like to make clear that while Sars does encounter members of its staff who are engaged in fraudulent activity, it is safe to say that the vast majority of tax fraud cases under investigation or in court are perpetrated by members of the public, from all walks of life.

"Sars is constantly working on refining enforcement processes and developing new ones to combat this [type of] crime. Sars also works closely with the SAPS and tax practitioner associations to approach the wider problem of tax fraud and eventually [get] convictions," she said.

All the accused have pleaded not guilty and are in custody. Mordaunt in out on R50 000 bail.

amanda@sundayworld.co.za