On 25th June the Judiciary Police and the Tax Authority, through the National Anti-Corruption Unit (UNCC) and the Directorate of Fraud Investigation and Special Action Services (DSIFAE), respectively, carried 50 home searches and made 14 detentions, on suspicion of criminal association, qualified tax fraud and money laundering, in a criminal case whose investigation is conducted by the Department of Criminal Investigation and Action of Lisbon.
The detainees, aged between 20 and 77, are suspected of belonging to an organized network which, since at least 2017, engaged in intra-Community VAT fraud in the acquisition of telecommunications equipment.
For this purpose they used the formation of successive one-person companies without any real activity and subsequent billing, without VAT being paid to the state’s coffers. The assessed loss is in excess of 6.5 million euros.
The criminal activity of this organized network was boosted by the use of the online sales platforms of the largest national companies in the sector, allowing them to obtain an exposure and sales volume that otherwise would not have reached them.
The detainees will be present at the Court of Criminal Investigation of Lisbon during the day of tomorrow, for first judicial interrogation and application of coercion measures.