smoke and mirrors
Inside the story of Christo Wiese, Tullow Oil and ENS’s tax dodging services
Tax advisers at law firm ENSafrica sold tycoon Christo Wiese a lemon — one that now implicates him, ENS and Tullow Oil in an alleged multibillion-rand "tax evasion" scheme. This emerges in court papers filed in the Western Cape High Court, in which the SA Revenue Service (Sars) claims that ENS created an aggressive tax structure to help Tullow shift assets worth R3.9bn out of SA, dodging taxes in the process. Sars is now pursuing Wiese, a former ENS executive, and two other people personally for R217m, as part of a R3.7bn tax claim based on Tullow’s "restructuring". When contacted about this story, ENS tax head Peter Dachs denied that Sars alleges any tax evasion "in respect of the merits" of the long-running dispute. ENS, which is due to move into a glitzy 17-storey office tower in Sandton next month, bills itself as Africa’s largest law firm, with 600 lawyers focused on doing "what’s best for the client". In this case, Sars claims ENS restructured Tullow, leaving it in charge of a...
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