A Hoopstad family and their company have appeared in court facing allegations of fraud, theft and money laundering involving more than R900,000 allegedly siphoned from a fuel business.
Father Pieter Smit, 63, his wife Elizabeth Smit, 62, and their sons Marnu Smit, 32, and Estean Smit, 30, appeared alongside their company, Landboudienste Diesel (Pty) Ltd, in the Hoopstad Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
The case stems from the sale of R700 Truck Stop in Hoopstad in 2021.
Buyer raises concerns over business losses
Hawks’ spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Zweli Mohobeleli said the complainant became interested in purchasing the truck stop after learning from the then-owner, Pieter Smit, that the business was for sale.
The complainant subsequently bought the business for approximately R1.7 million and allowed Smit and his sons to continue running the operation.
However, suspicions were raised when the business failed to generate the expected profits.
Mohobeleli said the complainant conducted further checks and allegedly discovered that more than R900,000 had been diverted through different bank accounts.
“The complainant established that the accused had swindled over R900 000 by channelling it between different bank accounts, including that of Landboudienste Diesel (Pty) Ltd,” Mohobeleli said.
Company linked to alleged transactions
According to the investigation, Landboudienste Diesel is a company in which one of the Smit sons serves as a director.
The allegations were subsequently reported to the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit in Welkom, which investigated the matter.
The investigation culminated in warrants of arrest being authorised and executed on Monday.
Accused granted bail
The four family members and the company were released on R5,000 bail each.
“The case was postponed to September 16, 2026, in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bloemfontein,” Mohobeleli said.
Second conviction in months
The latest sentence comes just two months after Carolissen was sentenced to an effective three years’ direct imprisonment on 55 counts of fraud.
In that case, the court found that he convinced a client to deposit money intended for VAT payments into his personal bank account, claiming he would transfer the funds to SARS.
Instead, he kept the money for himself.
The court also found that Carolissen failed to register the client’s business for VAT while continuing to demand payments supposedly destined for SARS.
“He also provided the complainant with false tax reference numbers and misrepresented them as belonging to the complainant, when in fact the reference numbers and SARS accounts belonged to unrelated entities,” Ntabazalila said.
Following that conviction, the court declared him unfit to possess a firearm and authorised the seizure of any firearms, ammunition, licences and permits in his possession.
NPA welcomes sentence
Welcoming the latest conviction, the NPA said the sentence sends a strong warning to would-be tax offenders.
“The NPA welcomes the sentence, which sends a clear message that attacks on the fiscus and fraudulent conduct aimed at undermining the country’s tax system will not be tolerated,” Ntabazalila said.
The prosecuting authority said Carolissen had repeatedly abused the trust placed in him as an accounting professional.
“While purporting to provide legitimate accounting services, Carolissen repeatedly abused his position of trust to orchestrate schemes intended to defraud SARS,” Ntabazalila said.
“South Africa’s courts have repeatedly described fraud as a ‘grave and ugly offence’ because of its corrosive impact on society. This is especially true where the victim is SARS, whose revenue collection function is critical to funding essential public services and supporting economic development.”
