Tembisa Hospital's ‘syndicate kingpin’ Stefan Govindraju, who is linked to more than 56 shell companies that banked nearly R450m through dubious tenders in just two years, has been criminally charged for tax anomalies by SARS, News24 reports.

The 36-year-old businessman appeared in the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court last week, facing charges related to his alleged failure to submit tax returns for Fuligenix, a little-known business he controls.

Govindraju’s dealings were first noticed after the murder of whistle-blower and Gauteng Health Department chief accountant Babita Deokaran in 2021.

Deokaran halted payments and called for an urgent probe into the East Rand hospital’s procurement section, as well as 217 suppliers, three weeks before she was killed. Govindraju’s web of dealings went deeper than was previously known, with another five entities found trading with the hospital.

Fuligenix was among the new companies and SARS’ move to lay charges comes as the fourth anniversary of Deokaran’s murder approaches.

While Govindraju faces criminal prosecution, he also remains a central figure in a three-year graft probe advanced by the Special Investigating Unit and the Hawks, which is examining thousands of individual transactions worth R2.3 billion.

SARS said it couldn’t discuss Govindraju due to taxpayer information being confidential, while News24 says repeated attempts to contact Govindraju were unsuccessful.

Full News24 report