A 42-year-old man an a 49-year-old woman have been arrested by the Hawk’s Commercial Unit for allegedly defrauding municipalities in the Western Cape of millions of rand. The arrests followed lengthy internal SARS investigations relating to unclaimed Input VAT claims by several Western Cape municipalities‚ for the period 2009 to 2011‚ said Hawks spokesman Captain Lloyd Ramovha.“It is alleged that a tax consultant company under the duo’s directorship was contracted by Oudtshoorn‚ Venterdorp and Plettenberg Bay municipalities to assist in recovering unclaimed Input Vat for these periods‚ and in return‚ the entity was paid lucratively for each successful tax recovery made.“Investigations laid bare the fact that‚ the said entity was somehow allegedly inflating their VAT assessment figures as it stood to benefit directly. Claims were somehow allegedly repeatedly submitted‚ even on items already claimed in previous periods‚ or claimed on items which are prohibited by the VAT Act‚ resulting in the Receiver of Revenue suffering losses to the tune of approximately R16 million‚” Ramovha said.“The pair’s unlawful exploits was brought to a screeching halt by the probe‚” Ramovha said‚ adding that the pair were expected to appear in the George Magistrate’s Court on October 4 on charges of fraud and contravening the Value Added Tax Act...