ADVANCED TALKS
Sharemax claims it has reached an agreement with SA Revenue Services to settle its alleged tax liability.
SHAREMAX Investments, the property syndication promotion and marketing firm that collapsed in 2010, claims it has reached agreement with the SA Revenue Services on the “essential terms” of a settlement of its alleged tax liability.
However, a written settlement agreement had not yet been concluded with Sars, Sharemax said in a statement issued on its behalf by attorneys Faber Goerts Ellis Austin last week.
Adrian Lackay, a Sars spokesman, said it would be premature to comment at this stage on Sharemax’s statement, adding the liquidation application was still to be heard.
“At issue is a consolidated amount for outstanding taxes of around R17 million. Unless payment of the taxes due is made or the matter resolved between the parties, the application will proceed,” he said.
Sharemax claimed in the statement the negotiations were at an advanced sensitive stage and the terms of the settlement agreement reached with Sars were “confidential and cannot be disclosed”.
It claimed that once a final written settlement agreement had been concluded with Sars and implemented in accordance with “the terms that have already been agreed”, the high court application brought against Sharemax by Sars would be withdrawn by Sars “and that will be the end of the matter”.
Sharemax stressed it had sufficient means to pay any tax liability it may have and believed the high court application brought by Sars was “ill conceived and nothing more than an attempt to coerce Sharemax to yield to Sars’ premature demands”.
However, Sars’ court action also included an application for Sharemax’s business rescue proceedings, which were launched in November 2011, to be set aside and terminated because of non-compliance with the Companies Act.
Sars’ application revealed that a business rescue plan had to date not yet been published for Sharemax Investments, despite a business rescue practitioner being appointed to Sharemax on December 7, 2011.
The Companies Act requires a business rescue plan to be published by the company within 25 business days of the business rescue practitioner being appointed, or any longer time allowed by the court or the holders of a majority of the creditors’ voting interest.
In its application, Sars cited Sharemax and six other respondents, including Liebenberg van der Merwe, Sharemax’s appointed business rescue practitioner; former Sharemax managing director and creditor Willie Botha; former Sharemax director and creditor Andre Brand; former Sharemax director Dominique Haese, who is now managing director of the Nova Property Group and Frontier Asset Management, which took over and manages Sharemax’s property portfolio; and Nova Property Group chairman Connie Myburgh.
It stressed it had sufficient means to pay tax liability, believing Sars’ application was ill conceived.
In a determination issued last year, the ombud for financial advisory and intermediary services deemed the Zambezi Retail Park property syndication scheme promoted and marketed by Sharemax a Ponzi scheme.
About 33 000 investors invested about R4.5 billion in Sharemax’s various schemes.
Sharemax’s collapse in 2010 was precipitated by the finding of a registrar of banks investigation, that Sharemax’s funding model contravened the Banks Act, becoming public knowledge. This led to new investments drying up and it being unable to make monthly payments to investors.
The registrar of banks placed Sharemax under statutory management in September 2010 and appointed statutory managers to manage the repayment of investor’ funds or seek other legal alternatives.
In January 2012 the North Gauteng High Court sanctioned a scheme of arrangement and offer of compromise to shareholders. The registrar of banks laid criminal charges against Sharemax for alleged contraventions of the Banks Act in March 2012.