A 38-year-old businessman was arrested in Durban on Thursday for allegedly failing to pay R43-million in value-added tax (VAT) to the South African Revenue Service (Sars).
Properties, cash in bank accounts and vehicles in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng — valued at R90 million — were seized in dawn raids by the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit, the Special Tax Unit and Sars investigators and police.
The man is expected to be charged with fraud and theft.
He was believed to be the managing director of a company contracted to supply stationery to a KwaZulu-Natal provincial government department.
The man is suspected of failing to pay VAT of R43-million on a R350-million contract with the department.
The VAT was believed to have been unpaid since June 2005. — Sapa