(Luxembourg, 13 May 2026) – At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Frankfurt (Germany), eight searches were carried out and one individual was arrested yesterday on suspicion of orchestrating a €18 million VAT carousel fraud through the sale of small electronic goods.
Searches have been carried out on company premises located in the federal states of Saarland and Saxony, in the company warehouses, as well as in the homes of four suspects including the arrested employee. In addition, a seizure order for €18 million has been granted at EPPO’s request.
At issue is a suspected VAT carousel fraud – a complex criminal scheme that takes advantage of EU rules on cross-border transactions between its Member States, as these are exempt from value-added tax (VAT) – involving the sale of small electronic devices.
The company under investigation allegedly bought goods from German suppliers and sold them to so-called missing traders in Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Slovakia. Some of the German suppliers allegedly acted as buffer companies, using false invoices to conceal the fraudulent scheme. In other instances, the direct suppliers are suspected of having issued invoices for transactions that did not actually take place.
The investigation further indicates that at least part of the goods circulated repeatedly within the fraudulent network, being resold through intermediary companies back to the original suppliers.
According to the evidence, the suspects are believed to have knowingly participated in the fraudulent scheme and unlawfully deducted VAT from invoices issued within the fraudulent chain. The suspected company allegedly claimed around €18 million in undue VAT refunds between 2019-2023.
The searches and investigative measures could count on the excellent support of the Tax investigation office of Saarbrücken (Steuerfahndung für die Finanzämter des Saarlandes) as well as tax investigation offices in Trier, Neustadt an der Weinstraße and Chemnitz, and several police units (saarländische Landespolizeidirektion 14 and Kriminalpolizeiinspektion bei der Polizeidirektion Zwickau).
All persons concerned are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in the competent German courts of law.
The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the European Union. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.