Johann van Loggerenberg – författare

The story of a rogue unit operating within the South African Revenue Service (SARS) became entrenchedin the public mind following a succession of sensational reports published by the Sunday Times in 2014.The unit, the reports claimed, had carried out a series of illegal spook operations: they had spied onPresident Jacob Zuma, run a brothel, illegally bought spy ware and entered into unlawful tax settlements. In a plot of Machiavellian proportions, head of the elite crime-busting unit Johann van Loggerenberg andmany of SARSs top management were forced to resign. Van Loggerenbergs select team of investigators,with their impeccable track record of busting high-level financial fraudsters and nailing tax criminals, lostnot only their careers but also their reputations. Now, in this extraordinary account, they finally get to put the record straight and the rumours to rest:there was no rogue unit. The public had been deceived, seemingly by powers conspiring to capture SARSfor their own ends.Shooting down the allegations he has faced one by one, Van Loggerenberg tells the story of what reallyhappened inside SARS, revealing details of some of the units actual investigations.

The story of a ''rogue unit'' operating within the South African Revenue Service (SARS) became entrenched in the public mind following a succession of sensational reports published by the Sunday Times in 2014. The unit, the reports claimed, had carried out a series of illegal spook operations: they had spied on President Jacob Zuma, run a brothel, illegally bought spyware and entered into unlawful tax settlements.In a plot of Machiavellian proportions, head of the elite crime-busting unit Johann van Loggerenberg and many of SARS''s top management were forced to resign. Van Loggerenberg''s select team of investigators, with their impeccable track record of busting high-level financial fraudsters and nailing tax criminals, lost not only their careers but also their reputations.Now, in this extraordinary account, they finally get to put the record straight and the rumours to rest: there was no ''rogue unit''. The public had been deceived, seemingly by powers conspiring to capture SARS for their own ends.Shooting down the allegations he has faced one by one, Van Loggerenberg tells the story of what really happened inside SARS, revealing details of some of the unit''s actual investigations.

Nothing in life is certain, except death and taxes or so the saying goes. South African tax dodgers and criminals from drug dealers and rhino horn smugglers to one of the hitmen who shot Brett Kebble have come to realise this truth the hard way. Former tax sleuth and bestselling author of Rogue, Johann van Loggerenberg, was at the centre of several such high-profile SARS cases that spanned many years. He offers a riveting insiders view on some of these cases, like the investigations into Dave King, Billy Rautenbach, Barry Tannenbaum, as well as Jacob Zuma, Julius Malema and others. Since the early days of democracy, a small but determined band of people at SARS who fulfilled various investigative functions came to know every trick and scam in the book, and developed the expertise on how best to hold tax dodgers to account. Their cases often dragged on for years, with many of the defendants using every legal trick to fight back but SARS never gave up. Van Loggerenberg also revisits events around the hollowing out of the tax authority post-2014 and brings the reader up to date on the extraordinary occurrences at SARS since the new dawn of the Cyril Ramaphosa era.

Nothing in life is certain, except death and taxes – or so the expression goes. And over the past two decades South African criminals and tax dodgers have come to realise this truth the hard way.Tax sleuth Johann van Loggerenberg was at the centre of many of SARS'' high-profile cases during his time there. As far as SARS is concerned all forms of income are subjected to tax, even if by ill-gotten means. Whether you are a drug dealer from Durban, one of the hitmen who shot Brett Kebble or soccer boss Irvin Khoza, you have to pay your dues!Van Loggerenberg relates the riveting inside stories of the investigations into businessmen like Dave King, Billy Rautenbach, Barry Tannenbaum and his ponzi scheme, and others. Over the years he got to know all the scams and dirty tricks in the book and he explains these in plain language.In these investigations the tax authority worked closely with the police, the NPA and the Directorate of Special Operations. However, after a few years SARS became the victim of its own success. In telling the stories of how tax evaders were caught, Van Loggerenberg also shows how the power struggle between different state departments and the phenomenon of state capture in recent years started crippling SARS.