A charge of tax fraud laid against a construction company has revealed the possible existence of a criminal syndicate at work, involving former SARS officials.

Mol Pro Consulting, a construction company lauded by President Cyril Ramaphosa, is claiming that the criminal case SARS laid against it, alleging it defrauded the taxman out of R116m, was the result of hacking and manipulation of its efiling profile – something that, according to the company, could only have happened with the help of SARS employees.

The Sunday Times reports that the company was subsequently forced to shut down and has been unable to collect millions of rands for work already done for government departments in the Free State.

An internal SARS investigation into Mol Pro’s claims shows that the person who took over the company’s e-filing profile in 2019, and altered its filings dating back to 2010, is a former SARS employee who is linked to 20 other companies’ profiles, one of which is also being pursued for tax fraud.

Despite this, SARS’s Criminal Investigations Unit and the NPA, using the edited and incorrect filings, is still pursuing criminal charges against Mol Pro and its directors. 

This is after Mol Pro informed SARS of the hack shortly after it occurred in 2019.

Full Sunday Times report