East London doctor in court for R1.8m ‘tax fraud’

A doctor appeared in an East London court for tax fraud. File photo.
A doctor appeared in an East London court for tax fraud. File photo.
Image: 123RF/Samsonovs/ File photo

An East London doctor was granted R10,000 bail after a brief appearance in court on Monday for allegedly defrauding the SA Revenue Service of more than R1.8m.

Karunlingam Chetty, 54, was arrested by the Hawks' East London-based serious commercial crime investigation unit in a joint operation with Sars and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Hawks spokesperson Capt Yolisa Mgolodela said: “Between 2015 and 2018 Chetty, as a medical practitioner, allegedly under-declared his income. During an audit Sars picked up some red flags and thus lodged a complaint with the Hawks for an investigation. The investigations revealed that Chetty apparently prejudiced Sars of an amount of more than R1.8m.”

Chetty made a short appearance in the East London magistrate’s court on the same day facing numerous charges of tax fraud.

The matter was remanded to September 19 to set a regional court date.

TimesLIVE

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