Detention of members of an organised criminal group dealing with extortion of a VAT tax
Agents of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau have detained next more persons acting in an organised criminal group dealing with extortion of a VAT tax. The detainees will be charged in the District Prosecutor’s Office in Poznań
The officers of the Regional Office of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau in Poznań have detained two more persons acting in an organised criminal group running fictitious companies and issuing VAT documents attesting untruth.
As it results from the materials collected in the investigation so far, the members of the group, acting under the guise of running a business, fictitiously traded in carton packaging. The findings of the investigators indicate that the members of the group, in order to obtain financial benefits, have issued nearly 1,500 VAT invoices for the amount of over 41 million zlotys, documenting apparent sales. Subsequently, they applied for refund of VAT, which caused damage to the State Treasury's property for at least 9.5 million zlotys. The fictitious trade in goods took place between at least 6 business entities registered in Poland and one in the Czech Republic.
The detainees, after completing the searches, will be transferred to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Poznań, where they will be charged with acting in an organised criminal group, attesting untruth in documents, fraud and money laundering.
In January and February this year, the CBA has already detained 5 suspects in this case, including a person responsible for organising and managing the criminal group and the so-called straw-persons issuing fictitious VAT invoices. The court applied three-month-long temporary detention against the leader of the group.