International police operation led by the European Public Prosecutor's Office

• 17 people have been arrested in 39 searches carried out in 8 European countries - 20 of them in Spain - 95 bank accounts have been blocked and 24 properties and several luxury cars have been seized.

• The fraud investigated focused on the purchase and sale of mobile phones and other electronic devices on a large scale, evading the payment of VAT through false invoices.

• The ringleader of this plot, who has been arrested in Italy, was also investigated in another procedure carried out by the Italian Delegation of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, within the framework of which more than 40 million euros have been seized.

February 22, 2023.- The Tax Agency together with the National Police and the Civil Guard, within the framework of the 'Marengo-Rosso' operation, directed by the Delegation of the European Prosecutor's Office in Spain , have participated, together with police forces from different countries, in the dismantling of an international criminal organization accused of an alleged VAT fraud of more than 25 million euros against the financial interests of the EU. The operation has been carried out simultaneously and coordinated in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Poland, Slovakia and Spain.

The main crimes investigated are those of criminal organization, against the Public Treasury and money laundering. As for the crime against the Public Treasury, this would have been committed through an alleged VAT carousel fraud, a complex criminal system that benefits from EU rules on cross-border transactions between its Member States by being exempt from VAT. the Added Value.

They avoided paying VAT and requested a refund

This fraud was mainly generated through the purchase and sale of mobile phone devices and other electronic devices such as hard drives, wireless headphones, tablets and computers. All this on a large scale among a complex chain of fictitious companies spread across a large part of the territory of the European Union, which made use of supposedly false invoices to avoid paying VAT and at the same time requested national tax authorities for refunds of the VAT. same tax without having the right to it.

This system generated benefits of enormous proportions for the organization investigated, to which should be added those obtained from the final sale of these devices at very competitive prices through online markets in several countries.

This framework was finally perfected through the laundering of the profits obtained, reinvested in high-value real estate, mainly in countries such as Portugal, Italy and the Czech Republic.

Nine detained and three investigated in six provinces

In Spain, the object of the investigation has focused on the alleged crimes of criminal organization, against the Public Treasury and money laundering.

20 entries and searches have been carried out in different homes and corporate headquarters in the provinces of Madrid, Barcelona, Castellón, Valencia, Alicante, Murcia, Málaga, Valladolid and Pontevedra, in which nine people have been arrested and investigated four others.

The searches have included the participation of EUROPOL agents who have moved a mobile office and technical means to Spain to support the computer tasks of dumping and cloning the seized devices.

As a result of these actions, abundant documentation of great interest for the investigation has been seized, as well as a large number of computer devices related to the events investigated.