Regional Offices of the CBA join forces. Strike at the fuel mafia
Over 100 officers of the CBA took part in breaking up an organised criminal group acting in Poland. Nine persons have been detained. The group has exposed the State Treasury to losses from VAT revenues of over PLN 700 million.
The officers of the Regional Offices of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau in Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Katowice, Łódź, Poznań and Wrocław, as part of coordinated actions throughout the country, have detained 9 persons acting in an organized criminal group. In the years 2013-2016, the group has exposed the State Treasury to losses from VAT revenues of over PLN 700 million. Everything seems to indicate that goods in the form of diesel, lubricating oil, gasoline and rapeseed oil were placed on the market and then were invoiced fictitiously - false invoices, VAT declarations and accounting documentation were also issued.
The findings of the investigation indicate that criminal activity was conducted with the use of the so-called "disappearing taxpayers" and "buffers". The group has created a network of companies that have introduced VAT invoices to the market not corresponding with the actual transaction, as their purpose was only to generate VAT amounts artificially. Such "disappearing taxpayer" after issuing the sales invoice did not pay the due tax and then disappeared. Whereas the so-called "buffers" prepared documentation proving further resale of goods.
The detainees will be transferred to the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Białystok, which supervises the ongoing proceedings, where they will be charged with managing and acting in an organized criminal group, as well as with committing tax offenses.
The officers of the CBA have also searched the places of residence of the detainees, headquarters of business entities related to them, as well as other previously designated places throughout the country.
Indicated proceedings is the result of months of intense work of both prosecutors and officers of the CBA, who, acting in a team specially appointed by the National Prosecutor's Office, collected and analysed extensive evidence that provided basis for the conducted procedural activities.