INLSA
Sbu and Shauwn Mpisane relax at a Durban hotel after a day in the Durban Magistrates Court where Shauwn is on trial for tax fraud PICTURE: DOCTOR NGCOBO
The state has been forced to show its hand to tax-fraud accused Shauwn Mpisane and give her more details of the 188 tax fraud charges she faces before her trial starts tomorrow.
Mpisane and her close corporation Zikhulise Cleaning, Maintenance and Transport scored this victory against the State yesterday, the effect of which, legal sources say, is that it reduces the number of skittles she has to knock down during the trial.
Mpisane pulled in top advocate Wim Trengove SC to argue that neither the charge sheet nor the docket spelt out the “who, what, where and how” of the charges. This was essential, he said, for Mpisane to prepare and put up a proper defence.
Yesterday, in his ruling, presiding magistrate Blessing Msani said the case had “peculiar features” and was technical in nature.
“The accused was running a big enterprise… she would have employed people to help her. It is alleged she acted in common purpose with some of them, and these relationships will come out during the trial.
“But the question she is seeking to establish is the role the State is alleging she played. She wants to know what the State says she did,” he said.
The magistrate said the State’s argument that the information required was in the docket was unfair.
“In my experience, police statements do not mean as much to an accused person as they do to a prosecutor who has had the benefit of discussing the statements and interviewing the witnesses.
Full picture
“An accused person will not get a full picture of what they will say at trial….to wade through a docket looking for what the State may rely upon in evidence is too much to ask.”
He also criticised the State for labelling Mpisane’s request for further particulars as a “fishing expedition”, saying her lawyers would not do that.
The essence of the charges is that Mpisane made fraudulent misrepresentations regarding the annual financial statements and income tax return for the year ending February 2008, reflecting cash purchases valued at R5 million in order to minimise the profit and pay less tax.
In order to achieve this, it is alleged she submitted forged invoices to Sars.
