Brussels, 04/03/2015 (Agence Europe) -Eurojust and Europol announced in a joint press release that on 3 March 2015, law enforcement and prosecution authorities from Germany and the Netherlands, dismantled a gang responsible for defrauding member states of approximately €150 million in VAT fraud.
Operation VERTIGO, was carried out by the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Eurojust and Europol. According to the press release, “In total, 11 territories were involved”. The members of the network arrested are suspected of having taken part in a VAT fraud that consisted in importing VAT exempt goods and selling them on locally to customers. The importers were subsequently exempt from paying government taxes. The same goods were then sold on again and exported. When crossing borders, the members of the network claimed a VAT discount, which had a significant impact on public finances.
Europol said: “The damage to the state budget of Germany through this illegally evaded VAT and illegally reimbursed VAT is estimated to be in excess of €100 million, while the Netherlands has suffered losses of at least € 30 million”. In the Czech Republic and Poland, losses are estimated to be in excess of €10 million each. Europol explained that to facilitate the flow of this illegally obtained money, the suspects used bank accounts across the world worth “hundreds of millions of euro”. (Solenn Paulic)