CBA Regional Office in Łódź Dismantles Organized Crime Group Issuing Fraudulent VAT Invoices
Officers from the Regional Office of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) in Łódź have detained six individuals in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship in connection with an organized crime group involved in issuing fraudulent VAT invoices. The investigation is being supervised by the District Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin.
The Sale of "Empty" Invoices
Officers from the CBA Regional Office in Łódź are conducting an investigation into an organized crime group engaged in issuing fraudulent and false VAT invoices. The investigation is being overseen by the District Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin.
According to the findings of the preliminary investigation, between 2019 and 2021, a network of business entities operated across several voivodeships, creating a network of fictitious companies involved in issuing and distributing "empty" invoices. These fictitious documents were sold to identified business entities that used them to underreport the due VAT. These activities have resulted in a VAT extortion of at least 9 million PLN to the State Treasury.
Detentions in Mazowsze
From April 9 to April 11, 2024, officers from the CBA Regional Offices in Łódź, Szczecin, Lublin, and Warsaw detained six individuals in Mazowsze, including entrepreneurs involved in the sale of false VAT invoices.
CBA officers also searched several locations where the accounting records of entities involved in the criminal activities were kept and secured accounting documentation and electronic equipment.
The detainees were brought to the District Prosecutor's Office in Szczecin, where the prosecutor announced charges under Article 271a of the Penal Code and Article 258 of the Penal Code, as well as criminal tax offenses.
Preventive Measures
To ensure the proper conduct of the proceedings, the prosecutor submitted motions to the court for preventive detention measures for four suspects. These motions were granted, with the court applying conditional temporary detention for three suspects. For the remaining two suspects, the prosecutor imposed non-custodial preventive measures in the form of financial sureties ranging from 40,000 PLN to 60,000 PLN. For one of these suspects, the prosecutor additionally imposed police supervision and a prohibition on leaving the country, combined with the confiscation of the passport.
Ongoing Investigation
This is the first operation in the ongoing preliminary investigation. Further actions are planned.
Press Team of the CBA