09/06/23

INTERNATIONAL TAX: Finnish police, EU partners crack down on cross-border tax evasion

As published on: yle.fi, Wednesday 7 June, 2023.

The suspects allegedly used complex trading schemes to commit tax fraud and move company shares around dividend payment dates.

The National Bureau of Investigations (NBI) said on Wednesday that it has carried out searches and detentions in partnership with Dutch, German and EU authorities in connection with suspected tax crimes.

A joint investigation team from the three countries has been probing cross-border efforts at tax evasion. The NBI is investigating the suspected cases of aggravated tax fraud in cooperation with the Finnish Tax Administration and the Prosecution District of Southern Finland.

During the preliminary investigation, two suspects were taken into custody in Finland and the Netherlands.

"The investigation team has made a preliminary estimate that [the suspects] in these cases have avoided paying tens of millions of euros in Finland, the Netherlands and Germany in relation to these suspected crimes," said the head of the investigation, DI Merja Laitinen-Jaakkola of the NBI.

The European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) said on Tuesday that has supported authorities in the Netherlands and Finland in the coordinated operation against dividend fraud and tax evasion.

Eurojust, which helped set up a joint investigation team between Finland, the Netherlands and Germany, said that the suspects allegedly defrauded Finnish and Dutch tax authorities of at least 17 million euros by wrongfully reclaiming dividend tax. The suspects are also being investigated for defrauding German tax authorities by reclaiming dividend tax via fraudulent transactions.

The suspects allegedly used complex trading schemes to commit tax fraud and move company shares around dividend payment dates.

The EU agency said that the detained suspects had used banks or other partners in Canada and Dubai to commit the tax fraud with dividend payments. Across the board, similar schemes defraud tax authorities in the EU of billions of euros each year, Eurojust said.

The Finnish NBI said that its preliminary investigation is still underway.

Tags

Cross-Border Tax Tax Evasion