(Luxembourg, 2 October 2024) - At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Milan (Italy), the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) of Milan arrested four suspects and seized assets worth up to €97 million yesterday, in an investigation into a VAT fraud involving the sale of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.
As previously reported, the scheme is in the area of VoIP (Voice over Intranet Protocol) – a technology that allows users to make voice calls via the intranet – involving companies in Czechia, Germany, Italy, Romania, Switzerland and the UK. The main beneficiary is understood to be a large company in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, with a core business of trading in the gas sector.
Evidence gathered during last year's searches indicates that the suspects have formed a criminal organisation, with the aim to systematically claim VAT repayments of more than €97 million. It is alleged that the suspects created a vast network of strawmen and missing traders in Italy and abroad, whose sole purpose was to issue invoices enabling the recipients of the invoices to get illicit profits from sales, and to claim tax reimbursements from the tax authorities without justification.
The judge for preliminary investigations of the Court of Milan has ordered pre-trial detention of two of the suspects, while the other two suspects will remain under house arrest.
All persons concerned are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in the competent Italian courts of law.
The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the European Union. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.