The Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court has sentenced a businessman from the city to a fine for tax evasion during a hearing on Thursday, 5 October. The culprit, Monnapule Ernest Sebeela (46), was sentenced to a fine of R3 000 after being found guilty of contravening the tax act.
The accused’s sentencing is the culmination of the investigation by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team in the Free State.
Lt Col. Zweli Mohobeleli, provincial spokesperson of the Hawks, said Sebeela’s tax contravention relates to failure to register his company, Lekone Trading, for value-added tax (VAT).
“His actions led to the South African Revenue Service (Sars) losing over R280 000. The tax evasion was between 2020 and 2021,” said Mohobeleli. He said the elite crime fighting wing conducted a further investigation into tax evasion after Sars discovered the incident.
“The investigation was handed over to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team based in Bloemfontein, and led to his sentence,” said Mohobeleli. He said Seebela was, however, not ordered to reimburse Sars the amount of money lost as direct result of his failure to register the company for VAT.
