Two South African Revenue Service (SARS) investigators accused of demanding a bribe to reduce a taxpayer’s owed tax have been arrested.
The pair will appear in the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court Friday on charges of corruption and extortion.
It is alleged that this week on Monday, the pair – a 40-year-old and a 47-year-old – contacted the complainant regarding an outstanding personal tax return of R250 000.
“They allegedly demanded R150 000 from the complainant in order to remove the alleged tax return debt from the SARS system. The matter was reported to authorities for investigation.
“Yesterday, an intelligence-driven operation was conducted by Crime Intelligence at a restaurant in Brooklyn, Pretoria where both the suspects were arrested,” Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu said on Thursday.
“The matter was transferred to the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation in Pretoria for further investigation.”
Captain Mulamu said the two tax investigators, who are from the Brooklyn SARS offices, were subsequently charged.
