https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/14-detained-on-suspicion-of-65m-tax-fraud/50073
Portugal’s Polícia Judiciária, the country’s main criminal investigation force, said that it had detained 14 people on suspicion of tax fraud, criminal association and money laundering
The operation was carried out jointly by the PJ and tax inspectors, with the National Anti-Corruption Unit (UNCC) and the Investigation and Special Actions Directorate (DSIFAE), in a criminal case that is being overseen by the Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP) of the office of public prosecutions.
According to a PJ statement, the detainees, aged between 20 and 77, "are suspected of belonging to an organised network that has, since at least 2017, been dedicated to intra-Community [European Union] VAT fraud in the acquisition of telecommunications equipment."
To that end, "they resorted to the successive constitution of single-person companies without any real activity and the subsequent issuing of invoices without the value of VAT being handed over to the state coffers, with a loss of more than six and a half million euros having been calculated so far."
The PJ also states that "the illegal activity of this organised network was boosted by the use of online sales platforms of the largest [Portuguese] companies in the sector, allowing them to obtain an exposure and sales volume that they would otherwise not have been able to achieve.”
The detainees are to be brought before a judge at Lisbon’s criminal court on Wednesday for questioning and the determination of possible bail conditions.