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(Luxembourg, 19 December 2024) – Following a large-scale VAT fraud investigation led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Cologne (Germany), code-named ´Huracán´, three individuals were convicted today by the Regional Court in Düsseldorf for organised VAT fraud, and aiding and abetting tax fraud.
At the end of June this year the indictment against the three suspects has been transmitted to the Regional Court in Düsseldorf (Germany), accusing them of a multimillion VAT fraud scheme concerning the international trade of more than 2500 cars, generating a total fraudulent turnover of more than €51 million and creating VAT losses of €18 million.
The court pronounced the judgment within less than six months of the filing of the indictment, as the defendants have admitted to the offences.
The court considered the three defendants based in Germany as black market dealers of vehicles, as they sold cars from Germany to car dealers in Portugal and the Netherlands as so-called ‘margin cars’, providing the car dealers with the possibility of paying VAT only on the margin they made and not on the net value of the car. To do this, they used the structures in Germany created by the five main defendants already convicted in October 2024.
One of the defendants was sentenced to four years, the other two to three years and nine months and three years of imprisonment, respectively.
The court ordered the confiscation of assets worth €7.4 million from the defendants as part of its sentence. Additionally, €1.7 million in seized cash has already been successfully transferred to the state treasury.
This is the second conviction in the Huracán investigation.
The defendants have one week to lodge an appeal; otherwise, the decision will become final.
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.