Five people from Centurion and four others from KwaZulu-Natal have been arrested over a value-added tax (VAT) scam.
Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said money claimed illegally amounted to R99 million.
Mulaudzi said the Hawks, in partnership with SA Revenue Service (Sars) arrested eight men and a woman at their homes.
Aged between 35 and 70 years, they lived in upmarket residential areas in Gauteng and Kwazulu-Natal.
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They were rounded up during a search-and- seizure operation conducted simultaneously at twelve premises at dawn on Wednesday.
A number of business premises were also visited.
The operation was planned with the assistance of the Hawks’ cyber crime, commercial crime and police tactical response units.
The team pounced after a probe by Sars criminal investigators.
This revealed the syndicate, which included a bookkeeper in Durban and one in Benoni, allegedly claimed R99 million in fraudulent refunds through 15 registered, but fictitious VAT vendors.
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False VAT vendor details, with fraudulent supporting documents, were used to register the vendors.
Mulaudzi said Sars had paid out about R30,6 million before the scam was uncovered and further payments stopped.
The proceeds of the scam were deposited in bank accounts from where the money was allegedly laundered through at least 35 so-called suppliers.
An AK47 assault rifle, an Uzzi submachine gun, several handguns, about €2 300 (R250 000) in cash were seized.
Also confiscated were several gold bars, Kruger Rands worth millions of rand and bags full of possibly incriminating documents.
Among the documents were identity documents and bank cards of the people who had been registered as VAT vendors.
Vehicles parked in front of posh homes in a Wierda Park, Centurion, estate where operations were conducted, included a Maserati and a Mercedes Benz Gelandewagen.
Members of the Sars investigating team were allocated to support the Hawks in the search operation and will help to identify relevant Sars documentation as evidence.
Those arrested appeared in the Commercial Crime courts in Durban and Pretoria on Thursday.
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