Representational photo. Source: Unsplash
Rome: Italy's financial police have uncovered a cross-border value-added tax (VAT) fraud scheme worth 42.8 million euros (50.1 million US dollars) involving the sale of luxury vehicles across Europe, authorities said Monday.
The operation, launched on Oct. 1 in the central city of Prato, Tuscany, was coordinated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) and carried out by the Guardia di Finanza (GdF).
Investigators uncovered a suspected criminal network accused of running a "carousel fraud," a complex system used to evade VAT on high-end car sales within the European Union (EU).
According to the EPPO, the group allegedly imported more than 1,700 luxury cars from Germany to Italy without paying VAT. They are accused of using a chain of shell companies and falsified invoices to conceal the transactions.
During the raids, Italian police executed at least 15 searches across several cities, seizing 40 luxury cars worth around 3 million euros, shares in eight companies, and 53 bank accounts holding a combined 1.29 million euros.
Authorities described the bust as part of a broader EU effort to crack down on sophisticated cross-border tax evasion schemes. (1 euro = 1.17 US dollar)
