Danish man gets another prison term in 1.5 billion kroner fraud

A Danish citizen has been sentenced to five years and eight months in prison in Germany for supporting a criminal organisation and aiding and inciting VAT fraud in five cases. The verdict is part of a case involving an alleged 1.5 billion kroner scheme, DR reports, citing the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).

The man is believed to have been one of the leaders of a network suspected of defrauding several EU countries of 200 million euros in VAT between 2019 and 2023. He was previously sentenced to five years and two months in the same case, and assets worth more than two million kroner were confiscated. The latest verdict concerns separate fraud offences and his links to the criminal organisation, EPPO said.

A Turkish citizen was sentenced to seven years and two months. He had also previously been sentenced in the case and is being held in Germany.

According to EPPO, the network set up companies in countries inside and outside the EU and traded in electronics, mainly AirPods. The companies carried out transactions solely to facilitate fraud through a so-called hawala network. Some then disappeared before paying VAT, while others claimed VAT refunds from authorities in the countries where they were based.

In 2023, EPPO carried out searches in eight countries, seizing 1,800 AirPods, a Lamborghini, a Porsche and a luxury watch worth more than six million kroner. The Danish citizen fled Denmark and was arrested in Kenya in May last year.

Three other suspects have previously been arrested, including two Danish citizens and a Turkish citizen living in Germany. Two remain in pre-trial detention in Denmark, while one has been released. EPPO did not specify who.