"Operation Toys"

 

• During the course of the operations, 24 searches have been carried out, 19 people have been arrested so far and 400,000 euros in cash have been seized.
• The network, which has carried out more than 15,000 operations in recent years, had moved some of these to Holland to avoid Spanish customs controls.

 

November 17, 2014.- The Tax Agency, with the participation of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, has dismantled an international organization dedicated to the import and sale of goods originating in China, responsible for the commission of multiple crimes against the Public Treasury, smuggling, money laundering, membership in a criminal organization, falsification of official and commercial documents and against industrial and intellectual property. The total amount of tax fraud committed exceeds 100 million euros, and the scheme is believed to have carried out more than 15,000 imports in recent years.

The organization imported goods originating from China to introduce them into the European Union, declaring customs values lower than those legally established, as well as not fully declaring the internal sales of the goods, thus defrauding the Public Treasury in both import tariffs. as in VAT and Corporate Tax.

The investigations that led to the operation, called 'Toys', were initiated in 2011 by officials from the Tax Agency. The organization has been operating for years, changing procedures and delivery locations to avoid detection. In recent years, in order to avoid Spanish customs controls, the organisation has begun to import goods into the Community through Holland, even though the products were largely destined for the Spanish market.

 

More than twenty searches and arrests

During the course of this operation, carried out by officials of the Tax Agency attached to the National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF) and the Customs and Excise Department, 24 searches were carried out in companies and private homes. Specifically in Coslada, Paracuellos del Jarama, Parla, Brunete and Fuenlabrada, all in the province of Madrid; The municipality of Azuqueca de Henares (Guadalajara) is home to 1,000 inhabitants.

Documents, computer files and other evidence, as well as 400,000 euros in cash, have been seized during the searches, resulting in the arrest of a total of 19 people, mainly of Spanish and Chinese nationality, in different locations in Madrid (16 people), Alicante (one person) and Almería (two people). At the international level, there has been cooperation from the Dutch judicial authorities and the FIOD (Dutch tax police).

The detainees will be brought before the 6th Court of Instruction in Fuenlabrada in the next few hours, which has declared the proceedings confidential.