In an operation code-named ‘Cheap Ink’, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Venice (Italy) today detained 18 suspects, believed to be part of a criminal organisation selling office supplies at cheap prices by fraudulently avoiding VAT payment, with profits estimated at €58 million.

Operation Display took place today in 10 EU Member States (Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Slovenia), within the framework of an investigation into cross-border VAT fraud by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Munich.

The EPPO in Riga is carrying out searches today in the city of Daugavpils (Latvia), including at the Daugavpils  University, in a probe into suspected fraud concerning European Union’s Social Fund, with estimated damages of €600 000.