Gupta associates plead not guilty to R37.7m Estina fraud
Two alleged Gupta associates on trial in connection with the R37.7m Estina fraud case have pleaded not guilty to all the charges levelled against them, reports TimesLIVE.
Kamal Vasram and Saliesh Indurjeeth yesterday appeared in the Pretoria Regional Court. They face charges of fraud, contravention of section 54(1)(A) of the International Trade Administration Act and contravention of regulation 22 of the Exchange Control Act.
The charges arise from a joint investigation by SARS and the Investigating Directorate into the failed Free State Estina project.
A pasteurisation plant, imported from India, was invoiced to Estina by Gateway, an alleged Gupta front company in the UAE.
The NPA said investigations revealed Estina submitted customs clearance documents in support of a VAT refund claim. When the proceeding got under way, the state started by reading out the charges into the record. The two suspects pleaded not guilty.
The state’s first witness, Piet Swart, a SARS investigator, testified how the custom clearance document which included a customs declaration form, were submitted via SARS’ electronic data information system by UTI as the clearing agent on behalf of Estina, to support a fraudulent VAT refund claim.
Swart said the total shipment contained a total of 482 packages.
The state further alleges that the overstated or inflated value was intentionally and unlawfully used by Estina and its sole director Vasram, to launder funds from SA, to the prejudice of tax payers.
Vasram was the sole director of Estina during the commission of the alleged offences. The pair were arrested at the end of December 2021 and granted bail of R10 000 each.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
