The Dutch Public Prosecution Office (PPO) has charged a Hoogeveen car company and its two executives with large-scale VAT fraud. The charges against the accused also include involvement in a criminal organization, forgery and violating the AML/CFT law.
The car company and the two executives were involved in a criminal organization of Berlin-based Lebanese people between 2014 and 2017. The organization traded cash with the car company to buy used cars. Thereafter, they used the cars to commit VAT fraud amounting to over 15 million euros ($17.7 million). The accused were aware of these fraudulent acts.
The public prosecutor has demanded up to 4 years 4 months of imprisonment for the accused. The PPO also demanded a fine of 50,000 euros (approximately $59,000) against all accused. It should be noted that the Dutch authorities had earlier seized weapons, properties, vehicles, brass knuckles, watches as well as 100,000 euros (around $118,000) in cash from the accused.
