Moyane ‘told probe witness to feign illness’

South African Revenue Service (SARS) commissioner Tom Moyane allegedly instructed a witness to “feign illness” and not report for an interview scheduled with KPMG in 2015.

This is one of the allegations former SARS commissioner Ivan Pillay has made in an explosive letter sent to national director of public prosecutions Shaun Abrahams.

“The effect thereof was that material facts known to Mr [Hendrick] Lombard were omitted in the KPMG report including‚ inter alia‚ ‘Sunday Evenings’‚” the letter stated.

Lombard was one of two whistle-blowers linked to operation Project Sunday Evenings‚ which was allegedly established to spy on the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Pillay’s letter came as special investigating unit the Hawks sought to revive its case against a “rogue unit” at SARS. KPMG has withdrawn its findings and conclusions relating to its report on the “rogue unit”.

Pillay and former tax officials Johann van Loggerenberg and Andries Janse van Rensburg were served with summons on Friday and have denied any wrongdoing. The charges could be related to an alleged payment of R100‚000 in cash to a “rogue unit whistle-blower” and fellow SARS employee Lombard.

The trio were set to appear in the Pretoria Regional Court on April 9 for allegedly contravening the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.

Pillay and Van Loggerenberg said this latest action by the NPA was not surprising given that it had “consistently demonstrated clear bias and malice‚ which appear to have been driven by the concerns of [SARS commissioner] Moyane”.