More accounting firms probed over tax fraud

THE Ministry of Finance is investigating two accounting practices at Tsumeb in connection with alleged tax fraud, The Namibian has established.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Calle Schlettwein, confirmed that two Tsumeb-based accounting practices were in the spotlight as the probe into widespread tax fraud in the North broadens. “Yes, we are currently investigating two accounting practices [at Tsumeb].”We have seized documents and computers and we are still looking at everything,” he said in a brief interview.A month ago, another Tsumeb accountant, multi-millionaire entrepreneur Kallie Gruenschloss, was arrested on charges of tax fraud and bribery.The Ministry of Finance also slapped him with a punitive tax bill, rumoured to be in the region of N$150 million or more.Schlettwein denied a report in another news medium that Gruenschloss had settled his tax bill.The rule was that any outstanding account first had to be settled before any objections could be lodged, and no settlement had been made, Schlettwein said.Gruenschloss is out on bail of N$1 million and has to appear on fraud and bribery charges in the High Court in December.Other companies have been issued with new tax assessments, and the owners will face arrest unless they settle their outstanding tax bills, Schlettwein indicated earlier.Meanwhile, there appears to have been a marked improvement in tax revenues since the Ministry of Finance started its tax fraud probe, headed by Ernst & Young’s forensic auditor Hans Hashagen and another team from KPMG.* John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081240 1587″Yes, we are currently investigating two accounting practices [at Tsumeb].”We have seized documents and computers and we are still looking at everything,” he said in a brief interview.A month ago, another Tsumeb accountant, multi-millionaire entrepreneur Kallie Gruenschloss, was arrested on charges of tax fraud and bribery.The Ministry of Finance also slapped him with a punitive tax bill, rumoured to be in the region of N$150 million or more.Schlettwein denied a report in another news medium that Gruenschloss had settled his tax bill.The rule was that any outstanding account first had to be settled before any objections could be lodged, and no settlement had been made, Schlettwein said.Gruenschloss is out on bail of N$1 million and has to appear on fraud and bribery charges in the High Court in December.Other companies have been issued with new tax assessments, and the owners will face arrest unless they settle their outstanding tax bills, Schlettwein indicated earlier.Meanwhile, there appears to have been a marked improvement in tax revenues since the Ministry of Finance started its tax fraud probe, headed by Ernst & Young’s forensic auditor Hans Hashagen and another team from KPMG. * John Grobler is a freelance journalist; 081240 1587