GAUTENG – Amina Karodia (56) appeared in the Palmridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday for allegations of tax fraud.

The Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation that ensued early this year uncovered that Karodia, in a space of four years starting from 2015 to 2018 registered five companies under her name.

The entities, Afton Cove Trading, Mediterranean Trading, Futraders Distributors, Rosewood Distributors and Gold Reef petroleum were non- trading. The probe established that these entities were founded with the sole purpose of defrauding the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

After registering the said entities, the suspect then proceeded to submit fraudulent documents to SARS more than fifteen times in an effort to deceive SARS to pay her an amount in the region of R11 million for undue tax returns. SARS proactively noticed the scam, managed to stop the payment before it could reach her which rendered the amount in question as a potential loss.

Karodia was arrested on Wednesday afternoon whilst on her way to the OR Tambo International Airport destined for KwaZulu-Natal. The court postponed the case to 17 November 2022. She was granted a R30 000 bail pending further investigation.

Source: South African Police Service