• Five people have been arrested: three members of a family who ran the organization, a tax advisor and a front man.

• The balances of 49 bank accounts have been frozen.

March 31, 2022.- The Tax Agency has dismantled a criminal organization that defrauded more than three million euros in VAT and Corporate Tax in the nautical sector. Five people have been arrested in the operation.

The investigations began in June 2021, when the Regional Inspection Unit of Murcia detected a mercantile network with allegedly false cross-invoicing and partially simulated economic activity. The plot was controlled by a family group through front men.

Following initial investigations, the Special Delegation of the Tax Agency in Murcia reported the alleged offences to the Cartagena Court on Duty, requesting the appointment of the Customs Surveillance Service as judicial police and the Tax Inspection Unit as judicial assistance.

During the first quarter of 2022, the premises and centres where the direction and management of the scheme could be carried out were identified and located, and the persons allegedly responsible were identified.

Finally, on March 21, within the framework of the Preliminary Proceedings of the Court of Instruction No. 1 of Cartagena, the operations of entering and searching the homes of the suspects, a consultancy and several industrial warehouses were carried out in the provinces of Madrid, Barcelona and Cartagena. Documentation and supporting documents relating to the fraudulent scheme's business operations and tax returns were seized during the searches.

The alleged crimes against the Public Treasury reported after the analysis of the documentation correspond to an estimated VAT fraud of 2.7 million euros, and half a million euros in Corporate Tax.

In addition to the searches, a request has been made to block 49 bank accounts of companies involved in the scheme and five people have been arrested – three members of a family that ran the organisation, a tax advisor and a front man – who are accused of crimes against the Public Treasury, accounting and document falsification.

The regional inspection departments of Murcia and Catalonia, as well as the National Fraud Investigation Office and the regional Customs Surveillance areas of the special delegations of the Tax Agency in Murcia, Madrid and Catalonia, participated in the operation.