The French branch of the European Public Prosecutor's Office announced on Friday that it had “carried out searches in the west of France and arrested four people” suspected of VAT fraud worth 60 million euros. The operations took place on Tuesday, according to the press release from the European prosecutor's office.
“More than 12.5 million euros in assets were subject to criminal seizures of bank accounts and financial instruments in France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and documents, data and digital storage media in France were apprehended,” added the European public prosecutor.
Its investigation “is based on a report from the General Directorate of Customs and Indirect Rights (DGDDI) relating to suspicious transactions carried out by a company based in the west of France”, indicates the press release. Asked for details, particularly on the legal fate of the four arrested, the European prosecutor's office did not respond, and Customs did not wish to provide further details.
False documents
According to the press release from the European Public Prosecutor's Office, “the people in question are suspected of having set up a system of VAT fraud attached to the export of goods from France to countries outside the EU. » “The suspects would have created false documents and used declarations in the name of companies with no real activity, set up with the sole aim of benefiting from VAT reimbursement on presumably fictitious transactions,” we add.
“According to the evidence gathered, false documents were used to accredit the existence of transactions involving goods subsequently exported, transactions which were in reality fictitious,” continues the prosecution. “In order to collect VAT credits, a service provider has been mandated to implement the administrative formalities necessary for VAT refunds and the effective transfer of funds,” the press release further states.
“It is suspected that once the VAT refund was made, the sums were then transferred to numerous bank accounts (…) under false identities (…) in several EU member states and third countries” further indicates the European prosecutor's office.