Gold Leaf ’s assets to remain frozen
CAPE TOWN - Manufacturer of cheap cigarettes Gold Leaf Tobacco will have to wait until the end of January to try to convince a court that its frozen asses should be released.
Two months ago, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria granted the SA Revenue Service (SARS) a provisional preservation order against Gold Leaf and its directors Simon Rudland and Ebrahim Adamjee.
In securing the order, the tax agency argued there were reasonable grounds to believe that Gold Leaf and its directors had underpaid tax and hidden assets.
At the time, Raees Saint, legal representative for Gold Leaf and Rudland, denied that his clients were involved in any wrongdoing.
Argue
According to the provisional preservation order, the initial return date for the case was yesterday. At this hearing, the respondents get to argue why the order should not be made permanent.
The matter was heard briefly in court yesterday, where the date for the return hearing was extended to January 30. This means the provisional preservation order will remain in place for the next two months.
The order stopped the tobacco group and its directors from selling any assets while the tax agency continues with a probe into tax evasion. When the matter was last heard, the court appointed a curator to immediately take control of the company’s assets, including all bank accounts, investments and property.
Rudland and Adamjee were also ordered to hand their financial records to the curator. Rudland had not, however, required to provide details about his international assets and income after he applied to keep these records hidden. Gold Leaf holds the distribution rights for brands such as Voyager, RG, Chicago, Sahawi, Sharp and Savannah.