The accused, Rejoice Magagule was convicted on 13 June 2023 by the Nelspruit
Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on charges of fraud and money laundering.

The accused claimed to have been the director of a fictitious company called “Fundzani
Trading cc” when she submitted false tax returns for foreign tax credits on the
company’s behalf to the South African Revenue Service. She claimed that this had cost
SARS R 162 481.29 in total losses that had been paid into the company’s business
bank account and later transferred to her personal bank account.

Magagule was sentenced as follows:
Count 1- Six (6) years imprisonment, which is wholly suspended for five (5) years on
conditions that the accused not be convicted of fraud in the period of the suspended
sentence.

Count 2- Six (6) years imprisonment, which is wholly suspended for five (5) years on
conditions that the accused not be convicted on charges of Contravening the provisions
of Sections 4,5 & 6 of the Prevention of Organized Crime Act, Act 121 of 1998, money
laundering in the period of a suspended sentence and that she pays back the
prejudiced amount of R 162 481.29 to the South African Revenue Service.

The matter has been referred to Priority Crime Specialised Investigation and Asset
Forfeiture for further probe. The application for a confiscation order has been submitted
in terms of Section 18 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. The enquiry has been
postponed to 10 October 2023.