- The European Public Prosecutor’s Office conducted searches at a bank in Munich related to a €200 million VAT fraud investigation
- The managing director of a company is under investigation for creating a fictitious business to facilitate fraudulent transactions
- The suspect received over €200 million from 127 companies in Italy and Slovakia between 2016 and 2022
- The funds are linked to a VAT carousel fraud exploiting EU cross-border transaction rules
- Upon receiving the money, the suspect withdrew large sums of cash almost daily from his business accounts
- Between 2017 and 2022, €188 million was deposited into one of his accounts, with nearly all withdrawn in cash
- Over €80 million was collected in cash by the suspect in 2021 and 2022
- The suspect changed banks after one reported suspicions of money laundering
- Bank employees disbursed the cash and authorized payments despite the suspicious nature of the transactions
- The bank’s compliance with Anti-Money Laundering Act obligations is under review
- The EPPO is tasked with protecting the EU’s financial interests and has authority to investigate and prosecute related crimes
Source: eppo.europa.eu
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
