A total of 61 business premises and homes searches were carried out in ten EU Member States, and five people were arrested. The group’s criminal activities behind the VAT fraud have resulted in an estimated loss of €32 million. The investigation began in 2021, shortly after the EPPO started operations. This is the third day of action in the investigation, where suspects were arrested for the first time.
AirPods worth €5.2 million were seized during the first two days of action. The investigation aims to gather evidence and obtain more information about the organised criminal group that traffics small electronic goods from Germany and sells them throughout Europe via so-called “missing traders”.
The EPPO stressed that the successful implementation of this operation would not have been possible without the support of the German tax investigation offices in Chemnitz, Würzburg, Nuremberg, and Berlin.
Source: eppo.europa.eu
