An individual has been indicted for engaging in qualified tax fraud, as announced in a statement from the Regional Attorney General’s Office on Sunday.
The case involves the intra-community acquisition of used vehicles and their sale in the national territory using falsified documentation, from 2012 to 2016.
The indictment, dated November 3, indicates that the suspect, who operated a business in Vila do Conde with a car dealership, was involved in purchasing used vehicles from the EU, legalizing them, and selling them in the national market to various final consumers without any tax remittance.
The investigation found that the suspect employed two separate companies, one of which was fronted by a figurehead, to obtain vehicles from the European area, improperly benefiting from a purchase exemption scheme.
The vehicles were then directly legalized in the names of final consumers using fake documentation that falsely declared tax payments at the source.
The Public Prosecutor also noted that the individual traded returned vehicles through transactions conducted directly between seller and buyer.
Investigators estimate that the suspect’s criminal activities defrauded the state of at least 1,608,766.20 euros in VAT and corporate tax, which the Public Prosecutor requested to be forfeited to the state.
