EPPO seizes assets worth EUR 2.4 mln in Romania amid investigation into fraudulent fuel imports to Italy

Assets worth EUR 2.4 million have been seized from a suspect in Romania as part of a cross-border VAT fraud involving fuels imported to the Italian market, led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bologna. Seizures worth EUR 19.9 million were previously executed in Italy in the same case, as the total damage is estimated at EUR 92 million.

In Romania, the EPPO said law enforcement officers seized 18 properties in Bucharest belonging to the suspect. In addition, 14 bank accounts were frozen, as were shareholdings in Romanian companies operating in real estate and the fuel trading sector, all worth EUR 2.4 million.

The investigation targets a suspected criminal group led by three individuals, all Italians, working from Dubai, Miami, and Naples. They allegedly introduced petroleum products into Italy from refineries in Croatia and Slovenia for their subsequent resale at a low cost, using a string of shell companies and a buffer company.

“According to the investigation, the fuel was sold to companies in Romania and the United Kingdom and then invoiced to Italian shell companies, all managed by members of the criminal organization,” the European prosecutors said on March 25.

“The evidence indicates that the fuel products were actually sold to a company based in Parma, believed to have committed Missing Trader Intra-Community (MTIC) fraud – a complex criminal scheme that takes advantage of EU rules on cross-border transactions between its Member States, as these are exempt from VAT. This allowed the company to resell the petrochemical products below market prices, through 17 unbranded petrol stations located in the provinces of Brescia, Ferrara, Lodi, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Reggio Emilia and Verona – thus obtaining an unlawful advantage over honest economic operators,” they further explained.

The scheme is estimated to have caused the tax administration more than EUR 92 million in damage related to unpaid tax since 2016.

The assets located in Romania belong to the legal representative of the company under investigation in Parma, the EPPO stated.

The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the European Union. It is responsible for investigating, prosecuting and bringing to judgment crimes against the financial interests of the EU.

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