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Fancy watches, terrific loafers, luxury bags and costly Champagne taken in the Sars raid
Durban businesswoman Shauwn Mpisane has laid a police complaint against officials from the SA Revenue Service (Sars) after they raided her home last week and allegedly made off with a host of luxury bags, shoes and watches.
In an affidavit in support of the case she laid at the Durban North police station, Mpisane said that after Sars officials raided her home in the posh Durban suburb of La Lucia on Friday, she realised that a number of expensive items were missing.
These included watches by top brands including Rolex, Hublot, Franck Muller, Pacet and Audemars Piguet worth “millions” of rands.
She further claimed that her five Gucci handbags, three Louis Vuitton purses, and one Hermès bag were stolen from her.
Shoes she lost in the raid included a pair of Gucci sneakers and a pair of Christian Louboutin loafers, as well as, bizarrely, 30 pairs of school shoes which she had collected for charity.
But that’s not all. Mpisane also claimed her expensive booze collection was ripped off and that she was now a bottle of Ace of Spades Champagne and a case of Dom Pérignon Champagne poorer.
City Press contacted one of the Sars officials who was present at the raid but she declined to comment.
Sars spokesperson Sandile Memela did not respond to text messages and calls.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele confirmed a case of housebreaking and theftwas opened at Durban North police station against Sars and others.
Mpisane’s affidavit, which City Press obtained, stated that on Monday last week a group of men unknown to her “unlawfully” entered her multimillion-rand three-storey home.
She alleged there was the curator and his security personnel. She said she called her lawyer who fended them off and they left.
“Then on Wednesday morning the same unknown men came back again with the purpose of trespassing and intimidating me. This time around they were armed with side arms,” she said.
They were accompanied, she said, by staff of the curator managing her assets that were seized by the Assets Forfeiture Unit, as well as their security guards.
“One of them is known to be a martial arts expert and uses cage fighters as his security personnel,” she claimed. Mpisane alleged that the men were aggressive towards her and intimidating and “threw their weight around”.
“I then called my attorney to intervene again and when she arrived ... she informed the men they were there unlawfully.”
In the early hours of Thursday morning, Mpisane laid a complaint of intimidation, harassment and trespassing against the officials.
The same day her lawyer went to court to obtain an urgent interdict preventing the Sars and curator’s officials from trespassing and intimating her.
But on Friday, while celebrating her son Andile’s 18th birthday at an “intimate private party”, the Sars officials struck again.
She alleged that the men forcefully removed the locks to her home without her permission and that they did so without obtaining a search warrant or court order authorising them to access her house.
Mpisane went back to the police station and added a charge of theft and breaking and entering against the officials.
A source close to Mpisane said: “The family were not given reasons why they came back, even after Shauwn paid at least R16 million to the tax man for outstanding personal income taxes.” City Press has seen proof of payment of the R16 million.
In 2014 Sars claimed that Mpisane owed it R65 million in personal income tax, but this amount was revised down last year.
Mpisane made a R14 million payment to the tax man on Wednesday. She said she did not know why she remained a target for the revenue collector.
“On Friday all the Sars representatives in this matter were taken in for questioning,” said a close source.
Sars has been involved in an ongoing dispute with Mpisane and her estranged husband Sbu, and their Zikhulise Group of companies. Sars claimed the business owed it R141 million which the couple is now disputing.
The Mpisanes were known for their lavish parties and their fleet of luxury cars that included a Maserati Rapide, a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, a McLaren MP4-12C and a Porsche Turbo.
Two years ago their vehicles were seized by the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit.
“This was shocking why they came back for the second time, even after Shauwn paid R16 million of her personal income tax that she owed Sars,” said a source close to her. The source also questioned why the taxman was not going after Sbu as well.
Shauwn’s lawyer, Nasmira Bawabhai, told City Press the raids last week were a violation of her client’s rights.
“We are going to continue with our urgent application in the Durban High Court [to finalise the interdict against the curator] where we are due back in court on March 20 to obtain a return date,” she said.
