Bogus tax practitioner gets 3 years behind bars for defrauding SARS out of R60k

JOHANNESBURG - A bogus tax practitioner linked to alleged underworld boss Nafiz Modack will spend three years behind bars for defrauding the South African Revenue Service (SARS) out of R60,000. 

Faried van der Schyff, who is also a co-accused in Modack’s organised crime trial, was sentenced in the Cape Town Regional Court on Friday.

It's understood that the 59-year-old posed as a registered tax consultant and illegally submitted documents to SARS, deceiving clients and pocketing the money.

He was convicted on five charges, including income tax fraud, violations of the Tax Administration Act, and contravention of the Correctional Services Act.

Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said, “It was reported that van der Schyff committed fraud from 2016 to 2019 by operating illegally as a tax practitioner, without being registered with the South African Revenue Service.”

Van der Schyff remains a co-accused in the Western Cape High Court trial involving Modack and 14 others, a case with nearly 3,000 charges, including murder, extortion and racketeering.