'VAT fraudsters' splurged ill-gotten millions on houses‚ cars and holidays‚ says taxman

Two Cape Town men who appeared in court on Friday for alleged VAT fraud totalling R115-million spent lavishly on cars and properties around the Mother City‚ according to the South African Revenue Service (SARS). SARS investigating officer Francois Scholtz said in an affidavit handed in at Cape Town Magistrate's Court that Nazmien Warner‚ 53‚ and Luis Filipe Fernandes‚ 48‚ used three businesses to claim illegal VAT refunds between January 2002 and August 2015.