The Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court has slapped a prominent Bloemfontein fashion creative director, Candida Crystal Smith (46), with a sentence of suspended imprisonment after finding her guilty of tax offences. The sentence entailed the option of either paying a fine of R300 000 or three years’ imprisonment.
The well-known, award-winning creative entrepreneur Smith, also known as Candy, was sentenced on Friday, 2 February.
Her sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by the Bloemfontein Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team and the South African Revenue Service (Sars).
“Smith was found guilty and sentenced for fraud and contravention of the Tax Administration Act. An investigation revealed that she submitted false returns for the tax period 2019 to 2020, resulting in Sars suffering a loss of about R472 701. She was also ordered to repay the remaining amount by 2029,” said Zweli Mohobeleli, provincial spokesperson for the Hawks.
He said the sentence was wholly suspended for five years with the condition Smith was not found guilty of a similar offence during the period in question.
Mohobeleli said the revenue service reported the matter in January last year with Smith making her first court appearance in October.
Smith is the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Free State Fashion Week, held annually in Bloemfontein. She founded the glamourous fashion project in 2016 and has successfully hosted a series of events showcasing fashion trends. The event provides a platform for emerging designers from sidelined small towns in the Free State. Her creative ability has seen her successfully transform the project into a reputable brand over the years.
- Smith has joined a list of prominent businesspersons charged for tax offence. In September last year, businessman Ntsane Cecerion Mopeli (67) and his company, M2T Systems CC, were sentenced for offences committed between 2014 and 2017. He was convicted of 23 counts of fraud and four counts of contravention of the Tax Administration Act.
His sentencing was the result of probing by the Hawks after the revenue service’s discovery of tax fraud.
According to the evidence presented before the court, Mopeli submitted three false Company Income Tax returns and 20 false VAT returns between 2014 and 2017. He misrepresented the trade activities of the company, causing a total prejudice to the Sars of over R27 million. Of that amount, R18,7 million was actual prejudice and the remaining R8.4 million was a potential prejudice.
Mopeli failed to declare the income received by M2T System CC to Sars and, in some instances, he claimed false VAT expenses and PAYE credits that were not due to his company. M2T System CC was in the construction industry and their main source of income was from the Maluti-A-Phofung Local Municipality. The statutory charges relate to the failure to provide supporting documentations to Sars as well as failure to register for VAT purposes.
M2T System CC was sentenced to a total fine of R7,3 million which was suspended for five years on condition that the company is not found guilty of a similar offence during the suspension period. Mopeli was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment which was suspended for five years on condition that he is not convicted of a similar offence during that period. He was further sentenced to three years’ correctional supervision.
In addition to this harsh sentencing, he was compelled to forfeit assets to the value of R11 million. This was after the Asset Forfeiture unit (AFU) successfully applied to the court and ordered that such proceeds be paid to Sars.
