A blow to the “fuel mafia”. The organisers of the criminal activities detained by the CBA
Four more individuals detained by the CBA officers as part of the investigation into the criminal activities of the so-called fuel mafia. The investigation concerns the operation of an organised crime group which exposed the State Treasury to a depletion of over PLN 63 million due from VAT receivables.
The CBA officers of the Regional Office in Łódź, supported by the officers of the Internal Security Agency, have detained four individuals suspected of acting as part of an organised crime group. This time, three organisers of the criminal activities and a person acting within the group as a “shell" fell into the hands of the Bureau’s officers. The activities have been carried out in the territory of Mazowsze and Wielkopolska.
The CBA’s investigation concerns the operation of the so-called fuel mafia, which in the years 2014 - 2016 exposed the State Treasury to a depletion in VAT receivables. The investigators' findings indicate that the group organised a network of companies which, as part of their business, were intended to prevent or significantly impede law enforcement authorities from finding the criminal origin of the funds. Documenting the alleged trading in liquid fuels, the companies accepted proceeds of crime in their accounts, and then transferred the money. The amount of extorted VAT could exceed PLN 63 million.
Since May 2020, one of the detainees has been wanted by the Police due to the penalty of deprivation of liberty imposed on them for previous criminal offences.
The officers searched 13 locations, both the detainees' places of residence and the premises of their businesses.
All four detainees have been presented with charges in the Regional Prosecutor's Office in Białystok. The court applied a three-month custody to all of them.
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Fot. ©timbrk/Photogenica
