Judge claims SARS’s Top Debtors List with his name on it is a forgery – without seeing it. And why would anyone have wanted to forge such a SARS list in 2002?
IN A PROSECUTION FUNDED BY SARS – to the tune of an estimated R100,000,000 so far – Gary Por-ritt and Susan Bennet are on trial for more than 500 charges related to their management of the Tigon Group which was delisted in 2003.
Of the 500-odd charges, only eight alternative charges relate to tax matters.
Proceedings in the drawn-out trial before Judge Brian Spilg which resumed in the South Gauteng High Court, Johannesburg on 6 November, began bizarrely enough:
Judge Spilg: Right, is Mr Porritt still not in court?
Prosecutor Etienne Mellett Coetzee
SC: No, M’Lord, Mr Porritt is in court. He is lying on the…
Judge Spilg: Ah.
Coetzee: …on the floor.
Judge Spilg: Is there a wheelchair?
Coetzee: M’Lord, there is no wheelchair, but they did however find a chair which the [SAPS] captain is sitting on now.
Judge Spilg: Right.
Coetzee: And Mr Porritt, I do not think Mr Porritt availed himself of that chair. I am not sure. When he came into court, he was walking on all fours and then he walked to just before that spot where he normally sits.
Judge Spilg: Well…
Coetzee: He is lying down on his back now, M’Lord.
There are also certain issues that Accused No. 2 [Bennett] wishes to address. There are two issues that we have to deal with: firstly, the condition of Accused No. 1. We will make submissions in that regard when it is appropriate, M’Lord, and when your Lordship calls upon the State to do so.
This story is from the December 2018 edition of Noseweek.
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This story is from the December 2018 edition of Noseweek.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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