The trial of Square One's former chairman, Garth Coetser, has been postponed, after he failed to appear in court last week due to an illness.
Correction
ITWeb omitted to report that Wendy Wright, Garth Coetser's bookkeeper at the time of the alleged fraud, had all charges subsequently withdrawn and is no longer facing any charges relating to the case and is now a witness for the prosecution. The three accused are Anton Meyer, Garth Coetser and Clifford Stevens. We regret any inconvenience as a result of this omission.
Coetser and two other people - Wendy Wright, a bookkeeper, and Anton Meyer, a director of some of the companies allegedly involved - face charges of defrauding the South African Revenue Service (SARS) of R189 million.
Prosecutor advocate Marius Oosthuizen says Coetser failed to appear in court, as he was sick, and his attorney handed a medical certificate to the court. The matter was postponed to 1 October for a new trial date to be set.
fraud. If convicted, Coetser faces a minimum jail term of 15 years.
The parties are alleged to have defrauded the revenue service by claiming fake tax refund claims to the value of R189 million. Payouts of R146 million were made before the scam was uncovered.
Coetser, one of the founding members of Square One, handed himself over after learning there was a warrant out for his arrest in May 2010. He was appointed as non-executive chairman in December 1999, but stepped down shortly before his arrest.
Two former Square One subsidiaries were allegedly used in a bid to defraud SARS of R23.8 million. The two companies, both of which were sold off by Square One several years ago, are among a total of 18 firms that were allegedly used as vehicles to submit 198 fraudulent VAT returns between 2007 and March 2010.
Square One was liquidated towards the end of September 2010, because of its “precarious cash flow situation”.
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