An international criminal network that defrauded people of more than €17 million in VAT on luxury cars has been dismantled, with 30 people arrested in Spain and Germany.
advertisementSpanish authorities have dismantled an international criminal network suspected of planning to import luxury cars, defrauding the Spanish Treasury of more than 17 million euros in taxes.
More than 30 people were arrested in the operation, which was carried out simultaneously in 13 Spanish states and Germany. The group’s leader, who lives in Germany, has been arrested and is awaiting extradition to Spain.
The ringleader had 18 warrants on charges including drug trafficking and tax fraud, and was operating under a false identity to evade justice.
During the investigation, more than a dozen searches were carried out in both countries, resulting in the seizure of 307,860 euros, including cash, jewelry and luxury cars. Authorities also seized luxury homes worth more than 11 million euros in Spain, Germany, Portugal and Lithuania.
The fraud scheme was run by a ghost company that allowed luxury cars to be imported into Spain without paying the required value added tax (VAT) and sold at below market prices.
Authorities say the organization has three main branches, one in Spain’s Levante region and the other in Cordoba and the Costa del Sol, with a third used for tax evasion and money laundering. was behind a corporate network.
The scheme used vulnerable people as fronts and offered them favors in exchange for being listed as managers and partners of the companies used to defraud them.
