(Luxembourg, 20 August 2025) – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Berlin (Germany) arrested two additional suspects and seized assets worth €11 million yesterday in an investigation into a criminal organisation suspected of defrauding €66 million in unpaid VAT and of evading over €137 million in excise duties.
Tax investigation officers from Bayreuth and customs investigation officers from Munich carried out searches and seizures in the federal states of Bavaria and Saxonia. They seized assets worth €11 million, including 13 fuel tankers.
As previously reported, the criminal organisation behind the fraud scheme is believed to have distributed so-called designer fuels, which are chemically modified products designed to elude taxation, using a complex chain of triangular transactions via several companies, in this case in Lithuania, Latvia and Hungary.
Based on the evidence, the designer fuels are entering the German market via Poland, falsely declared as lubricating oil. Once they reach Germany, the products are allegedly relabelled and re-declared as diesel, to bypass energy taxes. This tactic breaks the traceability of the supply chain and conceals the true nature and origin of the products.
It is estimated that the illicit activities of the criminal organisation caused a loss of €66 million in unpaid VAT and over €137 million in excise duties since 2023. Several of the suspected companies never paid either VAT or energy tax.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Berlin (Staatsanwaltschaft Berlin) supported the asset recovery with administrative and legal support.
All persons concerned are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent German courts of law.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (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.