Spain busts international crime ring for alleged luxury car import tax scam

Spanish authorities have dismantled an international crime network for an alleged luxury vehicle import scheme, causing damage to the Spanish Treasury by defrauding it of more than €17 million in taxes.

The operation resulted in the arrest of more than 30 individuals and was carried out simultaneously across 13 Spanish provinces and Germany. The leader of the group, who resided in Germany, has been arrested and is awaiting extradition to Spain.

The ringleader, who had 18 warrants for offences including drug trafficking and tax fraud, operated under a false identity to evade justice.

During the investigation, more than a dozen searches in both countries led to the seizure of €307,860 in cash, jewellery and high-end vehicles. The authorities also seized luxury homes valued at more than €11 million in Spain, Germany, Portugal and Lithuania.

The fraudulent scheme was operated by ghost companies, which imported luxury vehicles into Spain without paying the required VAT, allowing them to be sold at below-market prices.

The organisation had three main branches: one in the Spanish region of Levante, another in Cordoba and the Costa del Sol, and a third behind the network of businesses used for tax fraud and money laundering, according to authorities.

The scheme used vulnerable people as figureheads, offering them accommodation in exchange for being listed as administrators and partners in the companies used in the fraud.