Operation "Jabardillo"

A group of consultancies managed by the same family group promoted the issuance of false invoices through dozens of instrumental companies and front men.

• The amount defrauded would exceed ten million euros in a sector considered strategic in the area's economy.
• Five arrested after carrying out searches in municipalities of the province that have made it possible to obtain numerous documentation in paper format, as well as electronic and data storage devices

November 15, 2022.- The Tax Agency has carried out an operation against VAT fraud in the greenhouse construction sector in the province of Almería, in which five have been arrested people and after which a defrauded amount of more than ten million euros has emerged.

The actions, carried out by the Inspection Area, the computer audit units and the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, have been developed through a prior investigation phase and five entries and searches in different addresses: two in Almería capital, one in Vícar, one in Roquetas de Mar, and another in El Ejido. All records have been carried out coordinated by the Investigative Court No. 2 of Almería.

The investigation phase focused on a group of consultancies, managed by the same family group, that would promote fraud consisting of the use as front men of a large number of natural persons to constitute a network of companies that billed irregularly, for a period of time. short period of time, very high amounts for supposed greenhouse construction work.

The main recipient of the invoicing was a commercial company in this sector, which used fraud to obtain abnormally low prices in the market, or which irregularly invoiced owners of agricultural holdings who, in this way, managed to reduce the amount of their VAT tax obligations.

Numerous documentation in paper format, mobile and data storage devices, as well as a machine for counting banknotes, have been intervened in the records. After the entries, five people were arrested, two of Romanian nationality, one of Russian nationality and two others of Spanish nationality.

40 instrumental companies analyzed

At the moment, nearly 40 instrumental companies have been analyzed, without prejudice to that number increasing. The companies had a single partner and administrator, were recently created, had no history in the market, no assets, and had an absolute lack of real supplies. Through these companies, an alleged total VAT fraud of more than ten million euros could have been caused since 2018. According to the investigation carried out through numerous bank accounts under the ownership of these companies, the organization would have managed to have cash amounts close to 15 million euros in these years.

The Customs Surveillance Unit of the Almería Tax Agency will continue with the investigations, in order to determine the identity of the rest of the people who may have intervened in the criminal activity, not ruling out new arrests in the near future. .

This investigation and the device carried out completes the set of checks that the Tax Agency has been carrying out for more than a year to regularize the tax situation of the owners of the agricultural holdings that could have ultimately benefited from this fraud scheme in VAT.