Eight charged in extensive car trade tax fraud case

Prosecutors have charged eight people in an extensive financial crime case involving car imports and brokerage, Yle reported. The alleged offences mainly took place in Kauhava, South Ostrobothnia, and Kokkola, Central Ostrobothnia, between 2016 and 2024.

The charges include aggravated accounting offences and aggravated tax fraud. The investigation involved 47 suspected offences, including aggravated fraud, aggravated money laundering and offences involving registration entries.

According to police, the alleged scheme included setting up companies in the names of people who did not actually control the car import and brokerage operations. These people were used as front persons. The preliminary investigation was completed in March, and the case file contained 7,000 pages.

More than 10 people were investigated, but some of the suspects were not charged. Police estimated that the alleged crimes caused losses of more than one million euros. Some of the proceeds were recovered during the preliminary investigation.