Santorini Investments Limited Company and its director Victor Mwansa, 33, have been charged with 112 charges of tax offenses by the Economic and Financial Crimes Court.
112 counts of filing false reports and statements in violation of section 43 and of evading taxes in violation of section 44 of the Value Added Tax Act, Chapter 331 of the Laws of Zambia, are brought against the accused.
Santorini Investments Limited and Victor Mwansa allegedly provided information, including tax invoice numbers to the Zambia Revenue Authority, jointly and while acting together, on dates unknown but between the first day of September 2018 and the 30th day of September 2022 in the Kitwe District of the Copperbelt Province of the Republic of Zambia. The information purported to show that Santorini Investments Limited had been in compliance with the law.
Additionally, Santorini Investments Limited and Victor Mwansa, jointly and while acting jointly, fraudulently recovered Value Added Tax in the amount of K18,854,068.56 and interest in the amount of K3,325,240.47 in Kitwe District on dates unknown but between the first day of September 2018 and the 30th day of September 2022 by submitting false returns claiming that taxable supplies were made to Santorini Investments Limited by various Copperbelt based companies during the period 2018 to 20
The case was postponed by the court in Kitwe, which was hearing it remotely from Lusaka, so that the accused could begin presenting their defense.
Oliver Nzala, corporate communications manager for the Zambia Revenue Authority, added that some businesses on the Copperbelt are being sued for alleged tax avoidance.
“The Authority would like to inform the Taxpayers that it will not relent in its quest to enhance tax compliance through prosecution of perpetrators of tax crimes,” he said.
