Missing – $5m in VAT funds

MORE?THAN?$5 MILLION allocated by Government to pay VAT refunds has gone missing. And Auditor General Leigh Trotman has described the situation as a “serious matter which should be vigorously pursued”.
In his 2011 report laid in the House of Assembly on Tuesday, Trotman revealed that two amounts totalling $5 033 054 – $2 994 047 and $2 039 007 – were shown as outstanding on the VAT Office’s bank reconciliation statements for over five years.
He said the amount of $2 994 047.21 requested by the VAT?Division in December 2005 was issued by the Treasury to settle refund claims. This amount, however, was not seen on the bank statements of the division.
“It is unclear which account the money was credited to,” the report said.
 
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