‘Sars investigators in smear campaign’

A CLAMPDOWN by the taxman on the tobacco industry in recent months has resulted in a backlash which has seen SA Revenue Service (Sars) investigators become the target of spies, double agents, dirty tricks and the leaking of false allegations.

This was being done in order to discredit them.

Sars revealed to the Cape Times’s sister newspaper The Star this haze of shady dealings their employees are being forced to work under in response to rumours that their group executive in charge of enforcement, Johann van Loggenberg, had resigned due to corruption allegations.

Sars spokesman Adrian Lackay denied that any Sars official had resigned and said that Van Loggenberg’s unit is crucial in combating illegal practices within the tobacco industry.

“There are people who have a vested interest in creating confusion among state institutions. Sars is in no doubt that they are behind these allegations, as they have been in the past,” Lackay said.

He indicated that the accusation against their officials began in earnest after a letter was sent to the tobacco industry in November, indicating that the taxman would be clamping down on non-compliance in the industry – and that they were aware of all the means being used to avoid prosecution.

A second letter was sent in March and was copied to Lieutenant-General Vineshkumar Moonoo and the head of the Hawks, Lieutenant-General Anwa Dramat, giving further examples of the way the law was being broken, and the spying and allegations against Sars officials.

The letters, under the project name Honey Badger, were sent to the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa (Tisa) and the Fair Trade Independent Tobacco Association, which represent the majority of stakeholders in the tobacco industry in South Africa.

The letter explains that in 2012 the revenue service began looking into high-risk areas where compliance was not where it should be.

The tobacco industry into this category.

“The ongoing trade in illicit cigarettes in the country not only poses serious health risks to consumers, but results in a considerable loss of revenue to the fiscus and creates an unfair competitive advantage for legitimate producers and manufacturers of tobacco products in the domestic economy,” the letter read.

The letter indicates that there are more than 15 criminal cases that have been registered with the police – with more coming.

Lackay said that while conducting investigations it has become common “for those with an interest in perverting justice to compile dossiers and information which purport to uncover corruption, but are, in fact, a concoction of some fact and much fiction”.

Francois van der Merwe, chairman of Tisa, said they welcomed all the intentions Sars laid out in their letters. “We fully support the audits and scrutiny of the industry,” said Van der Merwe.

“Illicit trade is our biggest enemy.”

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