The Procuradoria-Geral da República Portuguesa (PGRP) announced that four individuals, detained in Portugal and Brazil on Tuesday, are facing charges of criminal association, qualified tax fraud, document forgery, and money laundering.
According to the Procuradoria, the suspects appeared for their preliminary court hearing today. The most severe pre-trial measure was applied to the representative of vehicle trading companies, who is also prohibited from contacting the other suspects.
The other three suspects are required to post bail amounts ranging from 20,000 euros to 60,000 euros and are prohibited from contacting one another. Furthermore, two of them are forbidden from leaving the country.
The court ordered these measures, based on the PGRP’s assessment of significant risks regarding the investigation, public order, and the continuation of criminal activities.
The statement also indicates that the court strongly suspects the defendants’ involvement in a criminal organization dedicated to importing and selling used vehicles in Portugal. This organization allegedly exploited the VAT exemption regime using shell companies unjustly.
Investigators estimate that since 2021, these activities may have cost the state approximately six million euros.
The GNR announced the arrest of four men, aged between 40 and 52, in Portugal and Brazil, as part of Operation ‘Dark Paper’ in conjunction with the Autoridade Tributária e Aduaneira (AT) and the Brazilian Federal Police.
The operation dismantled a fraudulent scheme built on simulated vehicle transactions through front companies, resulting in a tax loss exceeding 5.4 million euros.
During the operation, 43 search warrants were executed—12 residential and 31 at car dealerships, warehouses, offices, and garages in Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Setúbal, and Brazil.
The operation resulted in the seizure of 84 vehicles, three firearms, 25 mobile phones, nine computers, 4,900 euros in cash, 1.7 grams of cocaine, three data storage drives, a USB stick, four bank cards, and various documents.
The GNR reported the seized assets were valued at 2,067,263 euros, and various documents and digital evidence were collected.
The GNR noted that the investigation, ongoing for a year and a half, uncovered that several companies were making intra-community vehicle acquisitions and subsequently manipulating the VAT regime applicable to these transactions to significantly reduce or completely eliminate the tax amount owed to the state.
So far, six legal entities and six individuals have been formally charged with qualified tax fraud, criminal association, and money laundering, as reported by the GNR.
