Durban businessman Thoshan Panday denied bail in tax case

Durban businessman Thoshan Panday was denied bail following his arrest on tax fraud charges.

Panday appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday and the matter was postponed to September 25 for an indictment to be served.

He will remain in custody until the completion of his trial.

Panday is facing 27 counts of fraud, alternatively contraventions of tax legislation which outlaw false returns in respect of VAT and annual income tax.

In court on Monday, the prosecutor argued that Panday was a flight risk if granted bail.

In a pending matter in the High Court where he faces charges of racketeering, fraud and corruption, Panday had been granted bail subject to stringent conditions, including that he surrender his passport to the investigating officer.

However, he contravened his bail conditions by misrepresenting to the High Court in 2022 that he required his passport to enable him to travel to several destinations in Europe in December 2022, returning in January 2023.

Unknown to the state, Panday travelled to the United States of America in the face of the High Court order permitting him to travel to Europe only.

Read the full article in The Witness.