- The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) carried out over 200 searches in Germany and the Netherlands to target a customs and VAT fraud ring.
- The fraud ring is believed to have caused over €200 million in evaded tax and customs duties.
- Over 300 tax and customs investigators raided more than 200 locations and seized cash, luxury cars, smartphones, hard disks, and servers.
- Four suspects leading the fraud scheme were arrested and are currently in detention.
- The investigation, called ‘Masquerade Ball’, focuses on an organized crime group involving Chinese nationals.
- The group undervalued and evaded customs duties and VAT on imported goods by using fake invoices and abusing an EU importation mechanism.
- The group falsified the movements of goods using shell companies and managed to evade VAT payment entirely.
- The criminal group created a network of middlemen in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands to oversee customs clearance procedures and logistics.
- The EPPO’s transnational cooperation with different law enforcement authorities was crucial in connecting the dots between the countries where the group operated.
- The EPPO worked with customs and tax investigation offices, federal police, and other authorities in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
- The EPPO is responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes against the financial interests of the EU.
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.
