(Luxembourg, 4 July 2025) – On Wednesday, at the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Munich (Germany), one suspect was arrested in Czechia and several searches and seizures took place in Belgium, Czechia and Poland.
The criminal organisation under investigation is suspected of operating a €10 million cross-border 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, including the sales of AirPods.
The suspect arrested in Czechia is believed to have provided loans to various companies involved in the VAT fraud scheme and played an active role in the supply chain through his own companies. With the support of numerous national authorities from Belgium, Czechia, Germany and Poland, 18 searches were carried out in the premises of companies under investigation and assets are being frozen on bank accounts in Belgium and Poland.
The investigation is ongoing in order to ascertain the extent of the criminal activities. It is part of EPPO’s investigation Midas targeting a transnational criminal organisation behind a €195 million VAT fraud scheme involving the sale of smartphones, small electronic devices, and protective face masks.
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.
List of most important partners and national authorities involved:
- Belgium: An investigative judge and the Federal Judicial Police at central level and in the province of East Flanders.
- Czechia: Czech Police (Policie České republiky), Police of the Czech Republic, Police of the Czech Republic’s National Organized Crime Agency (NCOZ) (Policie České republiky, Národní centrála proti organizovanému zločinu služby kriminální policie a kriminální policie a vyšetřování)
- Germany: Tax Investigation Offices in Chemnitz-Süd and Würzburg (Steuerfahndungen Chemnitz-Süd und Würzburg)
- Poland: Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (Centralne Biuro Antykorupcyjne, CBA) – Regional Office in Bydgoszcz, and the Kujawsko – Pomorski Customs and Tax Office in Torun