(Luxembourg, 21 May 2026) – At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Hamburg (Germany), 16 searches were carried out yesterday in France, Germany, Italy and Poland in an investigation into organised VAT fraud involving the trade of small electronic goods.
It is believed that three suspects joined a criminal organisation directly linked to the ring leaders behind EPPO’s Goliath and Midas investigations. They allegedly used company structures across several European countries to conceal their fraudulent activities. Foreign suppliers declared tax-exempt intra-community supplies of goods to a German company controlled by the suspects. However, the company failed to declare and pay the VAT due on these goods in Germany.
According to the investigation, the suspects have submitted false or incomplete information to the tax authorities and failed to submit corresponding VAT declarations for certain cross-border transactions. Payments for goods supplied to Swedish missing trader companies were allegedly channelled through the fraudulent network in order to conceal the true nature of the transactions and evade the payment of VAT.
According to the evidence, the suspects evaded over €2.6 million in VAT with their fraud scheme.
In total, searches were carried out at four business premises in Germany, one residential property in France, and two business premises and one residential property in Poland. Searches had also previously been conducted in Sweden in connection with the investigation.
During the searches, investigators seized business and accounting documents, correspondence and communications records, as well as electronic devices including computers, laptops, servers, tablets, mobile phones and electronic storage devices.
The investigation is supported by the Tax Investigation Office for Serious Crimes in Nuremberg (Steuerfahndung Nürnberg), with the support of local German tax investigators, the French National Anti-Fraud Office (Office national anti-fraude – ONAF), the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) and the Central Bureau of Investigation of the Polish Police in Warsaw and Poznan (Centralne Biuro Śledcze Policji) and the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau from Bydgoszcz (Centralne Biuro Antykorupcyjne) and 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.