Entrepreneurs from the "invoice factory"

Officers of the Regional Office of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau in Warsaw are conducting a multi-threaded investigation under the supervision of the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw. The preparatory proceedings concern the activities of an organized criminal group throughout the country in the years 2019 - 2022. The criminal practice consisted in certifying falsehoods in VAT invoices issued by individual business entities and then using them to reduce tax liabilities to the State Treasury. As a result of several years of operation of the "invoice factory", the damage to the State Treasury is estimated at approximately 37 million zlotys.

Charges for fictitious invoices for subsequent members of the organized group

On March 7, 2024, based on the Prosecutor's decisions, officers of the Regional Office of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau in Warsaw, Poznań and Katowice detained four entrepreneurs – two women and two men – using unreliable VAT invoices in order to obtain financial benefits. The invoices in question concerned transactions in the construction, forwarding and outsourcing industries. The arrests were made in the Masovian, Silesian and Greater Poland voivodeships.

The suspects were brought to the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, where they were charged with Art. 271a § 1 of the Penal Code and with Art. 56 § 2 of the Penal Code.

Preventive measures applied

The Prosecutor applied non-custodial preventive measures against three suspects in the form of property bail worth a total of PLN 90,000.00 and police supervision. In addition, two people were banned from leaving the country.

Further implementations in the case

During the preparatory proceedings, officers of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau have already carried out seven procedural proceedings. There are 35 suspects in the case and 77 charges were brought against them. Currently, three members of an organized criminal group dealing in invoices are in pre-trial detention.

Further realisations and the gradual submission of indictments by the Prosecutor to the relevant courts are possible.

CBA Press Team