Half a million accepted. Detained in flagrante delicto
The CBA’s special operation: 13 persons detained, including the organiser of trading in phoney invoices for millions of zloty. Łukasz P. detained red-handed in a Warsaw hotel while accepting almost PLN 500 for phoney invoices for PLN 1.7 million.
The officers of the Regional Office of the CBA in Łódź have tracked a businessman from Warsaw and his illegal activities. He optimised the costs of other companies through phoney invoices amounting to millions of zloty. Officially, Łukasz P. rendered business consultancy services. He was also the president of a foundation which he himself set up. He was to advise other companies on how to pay lower taxes. It has turned out that he was doing it illegally. For fiscal authorities, his activities were difficult to detect. The invoices circulated between the companies. They were registered and properly covered up for accountancy.
Most often Łukasz P. traded in invoices for catering, training and consultancy. A construction company was also involved in the business, dealing with earthwork which was difficult to evaluate and verify. Actually, the services were not rendered. The entrepreneurs paid Łukasz P. a certain percentage of the total value of the entire invoice. The invoices for the companies were calculated as their costs and thus they paid lower taxes. The dealings resulted in a loss suffered by the state budget. The CBA is verifying whether or not money laundering was also involved.
The organiser of trading in phoney invoices was detected as a result of a special operation, and detained in flagrante delicto. The CBA officers detained Łukasz P. red-handed in one of Warsaw’s luxurious hotels while accepting PLN 445 for phoney invoices for PLN 1.7 million.
On the same day, the CBA detained further 12 persons participating in the trading, who benefited from or issued phoney documents: the owners of the companies and partnerships, including two citizens of Ukraine.
The CBA officers searched the premises of the companies and accounting offices. The accounting documents and electronic data were secured.
The case is being carried out by the Regional Office of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau in Łódź.
The detainees will face charges brought by the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw.
The case is in progress.
Piotr Kaczorek, CBA
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Half a million accepted. Detained in flagrante delicto
