Police operation led by the European Public Prosecutor's Office

• 24 people arrested in the framework of an operation with 13 searches in Madrid, Guadalajara and Cadiz against a network operating in the computer products trade sector

• Assets worth more than 4.8 million euros have been seized, including real estate, vehicles, cash and high-value items, and hundreds of bank accounts have been frozen in Spain, Belgium, Lithuania and Romania.

• They used structures and security measures typical of organized crime groups, including electronic communication applications used to avoid detection by authorities.

November 24, 2023.- The Tax Agency and the National Police, under the direction of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) in Spain, have dismantled a criminal organization with ramifications in Latin America in the framework of the investigation into VAT fraud in the trade of computer equipment estimated at more than 25 million euros. In the context of the same investigation, a total of 13 searches have been carried out this week in Madrid, Guadalajara and Cadiz, and 24 people have been arrested.

As a result of the searches, which required the deployment of more than 200 officers from the Tax Agency and the National Police, assets worth more than 4.8 million euros were seized, including numerous properties and vehicles in Spain and 135,000 euros in cash, as well as high-value objects, various electronic devices and computer equipment, and a large amount of documentation. Hundreds of bank accounts have also been frozen in Spain, Belgium, Lithuania and Romania, while seizure orders and other investigative measures have been issued in Latin America.

This complex investigation, which has led to the dismantling of one of the criminal organizations considered most active in the field of VAT fraud, has been developed over two years and has revealed that between 2021 and 2023 those investigated created a complex corporate structure formed by a multiplicity of entities in Spain, in other EU Member States and in Latin America, to channel intra-community acquisitions destined for the main company of those investigated, which acted as a distribution node.

VAT fraud and unfair competition

To carry out its fraud scheme, the plot took advantage of European regulations on cross-border operations between Member States, which are exempt from VAT. The plot used a chain of fictitious companies – called 'missing traders' – that disappeared without complying with tax obligations while other companies in the plot claimed refunds from the Treasury of that VAT that had never been paid into the public coffers.

In addition to the tax fraud generated by this operation, by not paying VAT on the goods at any stage of marketing, the main company was able to distribute these products at prices much lower than the market price, which placed the company in a very privileged position. , reinforcing its turnover and expelling other competitors from the market. According to the investigation, the corporate structure, nominally run by front men, channeled large sums of illicit profits into the acquisition of real estate.

Luxury watch collection and exotic species

The main suspect, a person with numerous police and judicial records, had numerous reptiles and exotic species, 85,000 euros in cash and a collection of luxury watches in his home. 

The evidence found also shows that the suspects made use of structures and security measures typical of organised crime groups, including electronic communication applications used to avoid detection by the authorities. In this regard, several cryptocurrency wallets and a token generator were also seized during the searches.

The suspects are suspected of having committed three crimes against the public treasury as part of an organized crime group, as well as money laundering and counterfeiting.

The operation was carried out by officers from the National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF) and the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, together with agents from the National Police, under the direction of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, responsible for investigating, prosecuting and judging crimes against the financial interests of the European Union.