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(Luxembourg, 21 November 2024) –Two individuals were convicted yesterday (20 November) by the Landshut Regional Court (Landgericht Landshut) for organised VAT fraud, following an investigation led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Munich (Germany). Their criminal activities are estimated to have caused a VAT loss of around €3.7 million.
According to the investigation carried out by the Tax Investigation Office in Berlin (Steuerfahndung Berlin), the defendants acted as strawmen for a buffer company, taking part in a cross-border VAT carousel fraud – a complex criminal scheme that takes advantage of EU rules on cross-border transactions between its Member States, as these are exempt from value-added tax – trading with small electronic goods.
Both of the defendants had been arrested last year: one in Slovenia in July by the Police Directorate Murska Sobota (Policijska uprava Murska Sobota) and the other one shortly afterwards in Czechia by the Czech Police (Policie České republiky) based on the information provided by the first arrested defendant.
The court convicted both defendants of organised VAT fraud. One of them was sentenced to three years of imprisonment and the other defendant received a suspended prison sentence of one year and six months.
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.