The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) on Tuesday uncovered a criminal network that sold more than 1 million used mobile phones as new across Europe, causing damage of up to 300 million euros.
Around 1,770 police and customs officers took part in the operation codenamed "Troja", which has so far carried out more than 160 searches in 19 European countries, arresting 7 people, including the suspected leaders of the organization.
According to the EPPO, the network assembled mobile phones from used components in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, which it then repackaged and shipped to the Netherlands. The devices were then transported to warehouses in Germany and sold via online platforms across the European Union.
The network allegedly used front companies in Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland to exploit a VAT regime intended for second-hand products. The EPPO said the phones were sold as new and therefore the tax should have been levied on the total selling price and not just on the profit margin.
The scheme is estimated to have caused losses of more than 30 million euros in VAT revenue in several EU countries, with losses in Germany alone reaching at least 25 million euros. According to the German newspaper Die Welt, authorities seized around 10,000 to 15,000 devices from a warehouse in Krefeld in western Germany. ©LAPSI.al
