Eleven people have been detained in connection with defrauding the Treasury of around €22 million by avoiding paying IVA and then claiming refunds of excise duty on alcoholic beverages.
Operación Azemur was carried out by the Guardia Civil and Tax Office and covered the provinces of Madrid, Vizcaya, Córdoba, Sevilla and Zamora.
The detainees were involved in the setting up a network of ‘front’ businesses for the purpose of defrauding the Treasury. These businesses bought alcoholic beverages, without paying IVA, then sent the drinks to a warehouse outside Spain, not paying duty because the transactions were ‘inter-community’, brought back into Spain and then sold to other ‘front’ businesses in the network.
They then claimed a refund of the IVA, which had never actually been paid, and also profitted from the sale of the drinks.
Police have sealed a warehouse containing goods worth around €400,000 and various bank accounts have been frozen while the investigation is being carried out.
There were 4 arrests in Sevilla, 3 in Madrid, 2 in Zamora, 1 in Vizcaya and 1 in Córboba.