Walvis man arrested for N$1m fraud

THE Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday arrested a clearing agent at Walvis Bay for fraud involving N$1 million that was paid to him by a client as value-added tax (VAT) on imported goods.

ACC Director Paulus Noa said Marco Van Basten Plaaitjies (23) was due to appear in court yesterday. Plaaitjies operates a company called Sunset Brokers.Noa said a client imported drilling equipment on two occasions – September 17 and 29.He said the client wanted to clear the imports himself at Customs, but was informed by the Head of Customs to make use of an agent and Plaaitjies was recommended to him.On the first consignment, VAT of N$173 000 was paid over, the client was issued with copies of the Customs forms as proof of payment and the goods were released, said Noa.When the client imported some more drilling equipment, the VAT of N$1 058 672 was paid into Plaaitjies’s account.Plaaitjies allegedly cleared the second consignment fraudulently by obtaining a copy of the release order of the first consignment – creating an impression that the VAT had been paid over.”It was only after 10 days after the import was released that the client discovered that the VAT documents of the first import were used for the second import and the N$1 million was in fact not paid over,” said Noa.Noa said investigations into previous transactions handled by Plaaitjies were continuing.Plaaitjies operates a company called Sunset Brokers.Noa said a client imported drilling equipment on two occasions – September 17 and 29.He said the client wanted to clear the imports himself at Customs, but was informed by the Head of Customs to make use of an agent and Plaaitjies was recommended to him.On the first consignment, VAT of N$173 000 was paid over, the client was issued with copies of the Customs forms as proof of payment and the goods were released, said Noa.When the client imported some more drilling equipment, the VAT of N$1 058 672 was paid into Plaaitjies’s account. Plaaitjies allegedly cleared the second consignment fraudulently by obtaining a copy of the release order of the first consignment – creating an impression that the VAT had been paid over.”It was only after 10 days after the import was released that the client discovered that the VAT documents of the first import were used for the second import and the N$1 million was in fact not paid over,” said Noa.Noa said investigations into previous transactions handled by Plaaitjies were continuing.