rbr 1,270 Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 LIFTED FROM ANOTHER SITE Dave King Latest Tax Issues -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just an update on the latest situation which has been placed in the local papers in South Africa. JOHANNESBURG - Controversial businessman Dave King accepted the position of executive chairman of MICROmega Holdings (JSE:MMG) because he has settled his disputes with the SA Revenue Service (Sars) and the Reserve Bank. Only the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) today has any issues with him, he told Moneyweb on Tuesday, suggesting that his settlements render the NPA's case rather flimsy. Still, the standoff with NPA means he cannot implement the settlements. Much of the NPA's case involved the allegations of Sars and the Reserve Bank. Only last August, the NPA brought new charges against him and his long-time partner and co-director of MICROmega, Greg Morris. Those charges related to events in Specialised Outsourcing 15 years ago. "I've looked at the docket in this latest little skirmish and it raised not even a mild concern." Most of the issues being raised about SOS have been debated ad nauseum for the past 15 years. For more than ten years King has contested charges of fraud, tax evasion, and breach of exchange control regulations in the High Court. Legal costs for him and for the State have run to tens of millions of rands. Now he says he settled with both Sars and the Reserve Bank. He believes Sars and the Reserve Bank have come to understand his position better and have withdrawn their criminal charges. King is the most relaxed and outspoken company boss. He never goes off the record or pulls his punches, for instance stating that John Myburgh SC had messed up the State's case and he would be surprised if he played any further part in it. "The NPA is sitting naked now that those who brought the charges accept I am not a crook. The issues with the NPA are continuing. We'll see what happens but I feel confident enough to get on with my business life." Through HSBC, King owns 21.8% of MICROmega. He said the company has done extremely well without him. Its IT arm is a red-badge Cisco associate and is a pioneer in SA of cloud computing. Like Specialised Outsourcing, it is a financial adviser to 45 government and municipal borrowers and it also has motor interests. Says King: "I have some new business ideas for MICROmega that are more exciting than anything I have ever done before. He agreed that MicroMega needs more than the current two independent directors so that it not seen as a clique of controversial friends. Today Pete Henderson was named as lead independent director. How much did the settlement with Sars cost? "We indicated quite early on that we would be prepared to pay R290m. It worked out at more than double that but more than half of the settlement amount was interest. There were no penalties." King said the money owing to Sars and the Reserve Bank was safely put away earning interest until NPA issues were sorted. I asked if investors might be chary of following King, even if MICROmega does well, for fear of a replay of SOS with King selling his own shares quietly into market strength. "I sold nothing quietly. Those, like Sanlam (JSE:SLM)'s Kokkie Kooiman, who said I did are intellectually insulting. If they thought I was key to the company they should have watched the share register and the annual reports. There was no requirement to notify share sales then, as there is today. Remember that a lot of companies crashed, including DiData and RealAfrica. Why single out Specialised Outsourcing?" He said he realised that the controversy around his name would rage among investors but that made him more determined than ever to run a clean ship 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,682 Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Sounds like positive news but having just paid out nearly �£30million to SARS, will he be able to up his alleged offer for Rangers? He's had a lot to say on the subject in the last year. We'll soon see why. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
H1ndy 0 Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 time for king to put his money where his mouth is. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbr 1,270 Posted January 20, 2011 Author Share Posted January 20, 2011 Sounds like positive news but having just paid out nearly �£30million to SARS, will he be able to up his alleged offer for Rangers? He's had a lot to say on the subject in the last year. We'll soon see why. �£30 million as compared to what they wanted is but a drop in the ocean is it not , plus if his legal problems are going as they must be if he has just become chairman of a company again as H1ndy says time to put up or shut up Mr King 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankie 8,682 Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 �£30 million as compared to what they wanted is but a drop in the ocean is it not , plus if his legal problems are going as they must be if he has just become chairman of a company again as H1ndy says time to put up or shut up Mr King I don't know what King's personal wealth is but �£30million is a lot for anyone given that's the supposed price for Rangers and no-one has bought it... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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