- EPPO in Madrid seized bank accounts in the Dominican Republic and Peru related to a €25 million VAT fraud investigation.
- Information was also obtained from Uruguay.
- Six bank accounts were seized in the Dominican Republic and four in Peru.
- The investigation involved a criminal organization trading IT equipment with links to Latin America.
- In November 2023, 24 people were arrested in Spain with support from national authorities.
- The suspects allegedly used a network of companies across Spain, the EU, and Latin America to exploit VAT rules.
- The scheme involved missing traders and unlawful VAT refund claims.
- The investigation was supported by the EL PACCTO 2.0 program to combat transnational crime.
- In May 2025, EPPO signed arrangements with AIAMP and six Latin American countries.
- EPPO is an independent EU institution focused on financial crimes against the EU.
Source: eppo.europa.eu
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
