(Luxembourg, 17 March 2026) – At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Berlin (Germany), multiple searches were conducted today in five different federal states of Germany, in a probe into suspected customs fraud and tax evasion involving the imports of aluminium from China into the EU.
The 17 searches were carried out by the customs investigation offices Dresden, Berlin/Brandenburg and Frankfurt am Main (Zollfahndungsämter Dresden, Berlin/Brandenburg und Frankfurt am Main) in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony. Offices and houses were searched, and evidence was gathered.
The investigation, codenamed Black Forest, indicates that since 2021 representatives of a Swiss company, acting through a subsidiary of a Chinese parent company, allegedly imported aluminium into the EU via a logistics company operating several offices in Germany. The aluminium was subsequently processed by a German subsidiary of the Swiss company into various products, which were then sold to other companies in Germany and abroad.
According to the investigation, in order to avoid the payment of anti-dumping and countervailing duties, the suspects allegedly declared the goods under incorrect tariff codes and submitted false invoices to undervalue the imports and evade customs duties and taxes.
The estimated damage caused by this fraud scheme between 2021 and 2023 amounts to €1.6 million.
All persons concerned are presumed to be innocent until a final decision proving them 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.