Romania’s Directorate for Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) prosecutors carried out searches at the Red Dragon, China Town, Sam Expo and Smart Expo shopping centers on Friday last week, following notifications from the Tax Authority ANAF.

They found 70 companies that have damaged the state budget by over EUR 7 million since 2013 by not paying their taxes. These companies imported goods mainly from Turkey and China and declared much undervalued prices. They subsequently sold the goods without documents, in wholesale trade complexes, or via “ghost” companies, to distributors or big retailers.

Some 120 antifraud inspectors took part at the raids together with DIICOT’s prosecutors, police and gendarmes.

editor@romania-insider.com