Huge corruption scheme discovered by Tax Authority

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Huge corruption scheme discovered by Tax Authority

8:14 CAT | 02 Nov 2017

The Mozambican Tax Authority (AT) announced on Wednesday that it has discovered schemes, driven by organised crime syndicates, that have, since 2013, siphoned off more than 180 million meticais that should have been paid in taxes (2.95 million US dollars at today’s exchange rates, but worth much more in 2013).

According to a report on Radio Mozambique, the assistant general director of taxes, Domingos Muconto, speaking at a Maputo press conference, explained that the scheme involved accountants, some company officials, and banks.

Essentially, it consisted of diverting cheques which should have been paid to AT tax collection units into bank accounts opened in the names of fictitious bodies. The criminals got away with this by choosing names which sounded plausible.

Muconto said the AT had found accounts opened in the name of “Unidade de Grandes Comsumidores” (“Unit of Large Consumers”), which bears a superficial resemblance to the name of the genuine AT department, the “Unidade de Grandes Contribuintes” (“Unit of Large Taxpayers”).

“This phenomenon frequently affects some businesses registered in the Maputo Unit of Large Taxpayers”, he added, “and they are very significant sums”.

“This is money which never reaches the coffers of the state”, Muconto continued. “But once the fraud has been detected, the AT has the prerogative to notify the taxpayer that he, regrettably, has a tax debt, which will have to be paid, with penalties for failing to meet payment deadlines”.

The last time such a fraud was detected was on Tuesday, he said. He urged taxpayers to ensure that their money is really being paid to the Mozambican state, and not to criminals.

Taxpayers may well feel outraged that they are being asked to pay again taxes which they genuinely believed had gone to the state

Muconto did not say whether anyone has been arrested in connection with this fraud, or what the prospects are for recovering the stolen money.

Source: AIM