(Luxembourg, 2 February 2026) – At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Vilnius (Lithuania), officers from Lithuania’s Financial crime investigation service (Finansinių nusikaltimų tyrimo tarnyba – FNTT), investigators from Germany’s Tax Investigation Office (Steuerfahndung) in Dresden and Europol carried out over 40 searches in different cities in Lithuania. This is the second wave of investigative measures in a probe into a criminal organisation importing salvage cars from the United States (US) and reselling them after cosmetic repair, while evading custom duties and VAT.
The investigation, code-named ‘Nimmersatt’, extends from the US to Russia, with links to Canada, Hungary, Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK), as well as 12 EU countries of the EPPO zone: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain.
At issue is a vast criminal network active in smuggling badly damaged cars from the US into the EU, and selling them to end customers after superficial repair, while defrauding the payment of customs duties and committing large-scale VAT fraud. The cars also pose serious dangers to the safety of European consumers, who unknowingly buy hazardous vehicles for a high price.
As previously reported, a first series of searches and arrests took place in April 2025, when the main ringleaders of the criminal organisation and the directors of the companies involved were arrested. A large amount of information was seized then and new perpetrators in this criminal group were identified, which has now led to the present arrests.
Last Wednesday, five additional suspects were arrested in the region of Klaipeda and 25 individuals detained for questioning in Lithuania. They were acting as private individuals allowing resellers to pay VAT only on their profit margin (the difference between the price paid for the item and the price for which it is sold), when selling second-hand goods. In this way, they acquired cars without registering them in their own names and resold the cars without paying any taxes, remaining entirely submerged in the illegal car resale business. Over the past five years, some of these suspected car dealers are believed to have ordered vehicles for resale for €45 million.
This preliminary investigation is looking into VAT fraud committed in Lithuania and Germany and other criminal activities in Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania, and the Netherlands, causing damages of more than €30 million. This case also concerns the laundering of at least €7.4 million obtained from this criminal activity.
How it works
Criminal organisations exploit the US market for cars damaged in accidents, which are often sold at auctions or dismantled for scrap. This criminal group targeted by the EPPO investigation was buying huge quantities of wrecked cars from US insurance companies at auctions and then shipped them to the EU. By using a network of sham companies and fake invoices to cover the origin of the cars, those vehicles arrived in the EU with their commercial history obscured.
The cars arrived at different ports, including Antwerp (Belgium), Bremerhaven (Germany), Klaipėda (Lithuania) and Rotterdam (the Netherlands). In order to evade a substantial part of the customs duties, the perpetrators presented false invoices to the custom authorities, declaring a much lower value than what they paid for the wrecks.
The cars were then transported by land to Lithuania, to be repaired in auto repair shops. However, based on the evidence, the repairs were only superficial, in order to make the cars appear as new. Later, when the cars were sold to final customers in Germany and in other EU countries, they were presented as never having had an accident or being fully repaired, even when they had hidden damage – including missing airbags or other serious security issues. Less valuable vehicles were sold on Eastern European markets.
This week’s measures counted on the valued support of 120 officers of Lithuania’s FNTT, 15 investigators from Germany’s Tax Investigation Office in Dresden, as well as Europol.
All persons concerned are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the competent 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.