A 47-year-old medical doctor has been arrested in South Africa on allegations of fraud and violations of the Tax Administration Act. The arrest followed a collaborative investigation by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) as part of the Honey Badger Project, led by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as the Hawks. The doctor, whose name has not been released, was arrested on Tuesday.
Preliminary investigations suggest that SARS identified significant tax discrepancies during routine assessments, raising suspicions of tax evasion. The investigation was referred to the Hawks for further scrutiny, and findings revealed that the accused had failed to submit personal income tax returns for the 2021 to 2023 tax years, despite multiple compliance reminders from SARS.
The doctor is expected to appear in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court on February 6, 2025.
In a separate case, Fabian Royston Tun, a doctor who owned a medical practice in Kimberley, was sentenced for failing to submit his Personal Income Tax Returns (PIT) and Value-Added Tax (VAT) returns. Tun, who earned over R17 million between 2015 and 2022, did not declare his taxable income, leading to charges of failure to submit tax returns.
Tun was sentenced to two years for failing to submit his PIT returns, with the sentence wholly suspended for five years. For failing to submit VAT returns, he was fined R1,000 or given the option of four months’ imprisonment per count. The NPA confirmed that Tun has since submitted all outstanding tax returns.
