10 arrests, including suspected ringleader. Searches in 10 countries
(Luxembourg, 16 April 2025) – In an action led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Berlin (Germany) and Vilnius (Lithuania), 1 000 police and tax and customs officers carried out 200 searches in ten countries, in a probe into a criminal organisation importing salvage cars from the United States (US) and reselling them after cosmetic repair, while evading custom duties and VAT. The criminal scheme also poses serious dangers for road safety in Europe.
The investigation, code-named ‘Nimmersatt’ (‘Insatiable’ in German), extends from the US to Russia, with links to Canada, Hungary, Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK), as well as 11 EU countries of the EPPO zone. Investigative measures were conducted today and yesterday in Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Spain. At the moment, ten suspects, including one of the suspected ringleaders of the criminal scheme (a Lithuanian citizen), were arrested. In addition, 18 other suspects were detained for questioning, all Lithuanian citizens. Key suspects of Russian nationality are also under investigation.
At issue is a vast criminal network active in smuggling badly damaged cars from the US into the EU, and selling them to end customers after superficial repair, while defrauding the payment of customs duties and committing large-scale VAT fraud. The cars also pose serious dangers to the safety of European consumers, who unknowingly buy hazardous vehicles for a high price.
How it works
Criminal organisations exploit the US market for cars damaged in accidents, which are often sold at auctions or dismantled for scrap. The criminal group targeted by the EPPO investigation buys huge quantities of wrecked cars from US insurance companies at auctions and then ships them to the EU. By using a network of sham companies and fake invoices to cover the origin of the cars, those vehicles arrive in the EU with their commercial history obscured.
The cars arrive at different ports, including Antwerp (Belgium), Bremerhaven (Germany), Klaipėda (Lithuania) and Rotterdam (the Netherlands). In order to evade a substantial part of the customs duties, the perpetrators present false invoices to the custom authorities, declaring a much lower value than what they paid for the vehicles.
The cars are then transported by land to Lithuania, to be repaired in auto repair shops. However, based on the evidence, the repairs are only superficial, in order to make the cars appear as new and to pass the required technical certification procedures. Later, when the cars are sold to final customers in Germany and in other EU countries, they are presented as never having had an accident or being fully repaired, even when they have hidden damage – including missing airbags or other serious security issues. Less valuable vehicles are sold to Eastern European markets.
In Germany, according to the investigation, the vehicles are sold by car dealers that are part of the criminal organisation. It is understood that they fraudulently apply reduced VAT, under the so-called ‘margin taxation scheme’. This provision allows resellers to pay VAT only on their profit margin (the difference between the price paid for the item and the price for which it is sold), when selling second-hand goods bought from private individuals. However, the companies under investigation applied this provision unlawfully, as the cars had been imported commercially, mainly from the US, and in some cases also from Canada.
In Lithuania, the members of the organised crime group are believed to have used Lithuanian companies to also launder their profits from VAT fraud and payments in cash from car buyers. The investigation determined that the Lithuanian cell of the organised crime group, established in 2020 and headed by a citizen of Lithuania – arrested in the course of this action –, used companies in Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Romania to fraudulently conceal the true turnover of the trade in salvage cars. From Lithuania alone, at least 16 500 cars were sold, for an amount of €144 million.
The suspected fraud also allowed the wrecked cars to be sold at a lower market price, thus causing unfair competition.
Complex international criminal chain
Thanks to the joint efforts of the EPPO, European partners and national authorities, the investigation uncovered an extremely complex criminal scheme with ramifications in 18 countries, by targeting leading members of the criminal organisation from Russia and Lithuania, as well as suspects responsible for the import and transport of the vehicles and dozens of car dealers.
The damage caused by these criminal activities, which is still under assessment, is estimated at at least €31 million in unpaid VAT and custom duties. Freezing orders of up to €26.5 million were granted. For the time being, bank accounts were frozen, and 116 cars worth approximately €2.3 million were seized, as well as half a million euros in cash and luxury items. Properties, plots of land and company shares, worth €5.1 million, were also seized.
This investigation, involving 16 European Delegated Prosecutors, was originally initiated by the Tax Investigation Office Dresden (Steuerfahndung Dresden), in Germany, and after years of invaluable efforts, reported to the EPPO in 2023. It also counts on the support of Lithuania’s Financial Crime Investigation Service (Finansinių nusikaltimų tyrimo tarnyba – FNTT), Europol, Eurojust and law enforcement partners from several countries. The cooperation with UK’s HM Revenue & Customs was also crucial to the inquiry.
All persons concerned are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent 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.
List of main partners and national authorities involved in the action:
- Europol
- Eurojust
- Germany: Tax Investigation Office Dresden (Steuerfahndung Dresden), in cooperation with other tax offices in Germany; and Central Customs Investigation Service (Zollkriminalamt)
- Bulgaria: National Investigation Service (Национална Следствена Служба)
- Estonia: Estonian Tax and Customs Board (ETCB) - Maksu- ja Tolliamet
- Hungary: National Tax and Customs Administration (Nemzeti Adó- és Vámhivatal
- Lithuania: Financial Crime Investigation Service (Finansinių nusikaltimų tyrimo tarnyba – FNTT)
- Latvia: Tax and Customs Police Department of the State Revenue Service
- Netherlands: Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD)
- Portugal: Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) - Unidade de Acção Fiscal
- Romania: National Anticorruption Directorate (Direcția Națională Anticorupție – DNA)
- Spain: Guardia Civil