South African Revenue Service (Sars) commissioner Tom Moyane has denied, in a letter to Corruption Watch, that he failed in his duty to act on allegations of fraud and corruption by his deputy Jonas Makwakwa and his girlfriend Kelly-Ann Elskie.

Moyane said he was aware of his obligation to refer the matter to the police “but upon inquiry and before I could report this matter” he was told by the Hawks that it was already referred to the police in early July.

“Further, I was advised that the Hawks have commenced with a criminal investigation into corruption, racketeering and money-laundering against the two Sars employees.”

Moyane said Sars was cooperating fully with this probe.

“In light of the above, I deny your allegation, contained at paragraph 11 of your letter, that I am in breach of section 34 of PRECCA [the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act].

“I was advised by the Hawks through a written correspondence that there is no need to open a criminal case on a matter that is already under investigation by the Hawks.”

Moyane added that he had taken note of an article in the New Age newspaper this week alleging that Makwakwa and other Sars employees were involved in a R60-million scam and has asked the Hawks to add this to their investigation.

Corruption Watch on Tuesday threatened to press criminal charges against Moyane for failing to act on findings by the Financial Intelligence Centre against Makwakwa and Elskie.

In his letter to the watchdog organisation’s executive director, David Lewis, he insisted that he acted promptly on the Financial Intelligence Centres’s information by instituting an internal disciplinary process against the pair in late May, resulting in Makwakwa’s suspension in September and that of Elskie on October 10.

He however goes on to accuse the FIC of failure to assist Sars in its investigation into the matter, saying several requests for meetings and co-operation were ignored.

“The FIC’s lack of cooperation is disturbing taking into account that it has been investigating this matter since 2010 and there is no iota of evidence to suggest that at any point ever since 2010, it either submitted a report to any of the previous Sars commissioners and/or any of the previous ministers of finance.”

Lewis this week called on the Hawks to act against Moyane for failing to take the allegations against his deputy to the police, saying it was disturbing.

Moyane has for some time been criticised for only suspending Makwakwa months after learning of his alleged wrongdoing.