Tefo Tefo
SUSPENDED Director-General (CG) of the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA) Thabo Khasipi will tomorrow appear before the Magistrate’s Court to pursue his application to prevent the court from remanding him for tax evasion charges against him.
Mr Khasipe, who was suspended from the national tax collection authority last month, first appeared before the Magistrate’s Court on 10 February this year to face tax evasion charges.
According to the charge sheet, Mr Khasipe faces eight counts of failing to file tax returns to the LRA from the fiscal year 2006/2007 to 2012/13.
But his lawyer King’s Counsel Motiea Teele on 10 February objected to his remand saying he intended to file a constitutional case before the High Court challenging the charges levelled against him.
Magistrate Moroke Mokhesi, on that day, ordered Advocate Teele to file the application the following week so that the prosecution could file its opposing papers by 21 February 2017.
Mr Mokhesi said he would hear arguments on the application to put on hold CG Khasipe’s remand on 3 March 2017.
The decision was made after Advocate Teele narrated to the court why he wanted to challenge his client’s prosecution.
In his brief address to the court Advocate Teele said they challenged the “decision to prosecute Mr Khasipe and that challenge is in the form of a constitutional case,” adding, “The decision to prosecute in relation to tax matters cannot be taken otherwise than by the decision of the LRA board”.
Advocate Teele asked the court to allow him time to file a formal application to substantiate his argument.
On the other hand, the prosecutor, Lehlohonolo Phooko, insisted CG Khasipe should be remanded citing the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act (CP&E).
He said the court should proceed to remand Mr Khasipe because the constitutional challenge had not yet been filed in the High Court.
But the court postponed the hearing the application to tomorrow so that it could make a decision whether to stop remanding him or not pending an envisaged constitutional case.
Mr Khasipe is also facing two counts of allegedly filling false figures of his earnings and therefore making misrepresentations to the LRA.
Part of the charge sheet reads: “Accused is guilty of contravening section 175(1) read with section 128(1) of the Income Tax Act in that at or near Maseru within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, accused as a resident of Lesotho for income tax purposes and obliged to file returns of income in terms of section 128(1) of the Income Tax Act No. 9 of 1993, did not file for the year of assessment set out in column 2 of table A in the charge sheet, returns of income on the due dates reflected in column 3 of the afore-said table.”
CG Khasipe was appointed the LRA boss in December last year.
