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(Luxembourg, 1 July 2024) – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Cologne (Germany) has filed an indictment against three defendants with the Regional Court in Düsseldorf. This is the second indictment in a large-scale VAT fraud investigation, code-named ’Huracán’, concerning the international trade of more than 10 000 cars.
It is alleged that the three defendants bought cars from the main suspects – a group of five individuals, indicted in March 2024, whose court case is currently ongoing – as part of a fraudulent scheme. It is understood that the three defendants then generally sold them to car dealers located outside of Germany, mainly in the Netherlands and Portugal.
According to the investigation, the cars were fraudulently sold as so-called ‘margin cars’, providing the car dealers in the Netherlands and Portugal with the possibility of paying VAT only on the margin they made (the difference between the price paid for the vehicle and the price for which it is sold), and not on the net value of the car. It is understood that this fraudulent behaviour resulted in VAT evasion in the country of the final seller, and led, in this particular part of the scheme, to VAT damage of over €18 million.
During the searches in June 2023 and October 2023, over €1.7 million in cash and real estate worth €300 000 were seized from the three defendants.
If convicted, they risk sentences of several years of imprisonment.
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.