The Tax Authority (AT) carried out searches this Thursday in the districts of Aveiro and Porto as part of a tax fraud process that caused damage to the state in the amount of 15 million euros, which involved 22 defendants, the body said in a statement.
AT said in a statement that this operation, known as “Fakecork”, issued 24 search warrants, 12 of which were carried out at homes, in the municipalities of Santa Maria da Feira, Ovar, Espinho and Vila Nova de -Gaia, suspicion of a crime of qualified tax fraud and money laundering.
“The companies in the cork sector are under suspicion and are allegedly involved in a scheme for issuing and using false invoices and imitation of payments in the amount of about 50 million euros, which will damage the public purse by more than 15 million euros,” he says. the same note.
According to AT, this operation is the culmination of an investigation launched in 2018, which included surveillance and wiretapping of telephone and electronic communications, as well as the analysis of financial flows.
As part of these actions, 22 defendants were appointed, to whom a preventive measure was applied in the form of a period of registration and residence.
Authorities also confiscated “documentation, mobile phones and other electronic equipment deemed important in proving the crimes in question” and more than one hundred thousand euros in cash.
The action carried out by the Financial Directorate of Aveiro as part of the criminal process that is taking place in the Department of Investigations and Criminal Affairs (DIAP) of Santa Maria da Feira was attended by 98 tax and customs inspectors, 51 GNR soldiers and six PSP agents.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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