Money-laundering ‘kingpin’ on the ropes

The net is closing in on the man allegedly at the centre of SA’s massive gold and tobacco money laundering machine. Howard Baker is scrambling to settle after the SA Revenue Service (SARS) slapped him with an astronomical R3bn claim and set its eyes on all his local and foreign assets. SARS is pursuing the alleged money launderer for a R3bn tax debt, more than half of which consists of penalties incurred after he – according to the tax authority – expatriated billions of rands from SA without declaring any income. The Daily Maverick reports that SARS last year quietly launched a successful application to provisionally preserve all known and unknown assets Baker might have in SA and abroad, as well as a number of properties he allegedly bought in the name of third parties to disguise their true ownership. Originally launched on an ex parte basis back in November 2022 – with Baker not being notified due to fears he might dissipate assets – the finalisation of the case has been delayed repeatedly as SARS tries to pin down additional respondents and negotiate settlements with those it has found. As for Baker, he has asked for an extension to April to try to negotiate his own settlement before opposing SARS in court. This means his assets are frozen but not yet forfeited. Nevertheless, DM notes that Baker succeeded in selling assets abroad even though one major deal was scuppered when the UK imposed sanctions on him in November for his alleged dealings in Russia.

DM notes that the case forms part of a wider SARS offensive against, among others, Baker and the man he is alleged to be the frontman for, Zimbabwean Simon Rudland and his Gold Leaf Tobacco Corporation, as well as figures in the illicit gold sector. ‘SARS has reason to believe that these illicit financial flows involve money laundering activities and that Mr Baker is implicated in these activities. According to the relevant material SARS has, to date, uncovered, it has reason to believe that through Mr Baker’s involvement in, inter alia, the money laundering activities, he has generated vast amounts of income ranging into billions of rands,’ it said.