National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

For example, sufficient knowledge must be available, a start-up capital is required
and a network of (corrupt) contacts for purchasing, sales and services must be in
place. In addition, people are also required to execute the fraud. Knowledge
involves understanding of taxes that increase the cost price of products and of the
differences between countries, knowledge of the administrative procedures used
in relation to these taxes and an insight into the opportunities for fraud in this
system. This type of fraud is so complex in legal and financial terms that
professional help is required when setting it up. Corrupt contacts are established
with a range of people, including transporters, purchasers from companies in the
Netherlands and abroad, financial service providers, forgers of documents and
stamps, and people who work for the police, the judicial authorities, Customs and
the tax authorities. The preparation phase also involves buying or incorporating
one or more legal entities. These legal entities are often registered in the name of
straw men. The Plof BV (‘bust-out company’) - a fraudulent company that has
been established with the specific purpose of going bankrupt - is one example.
Most of the execution phase consists of concealing the actual objective:
generating profits at the expense of the treasury. To achieve this concealment,
goods are sold and transported via various links and misleading accounts are
kept, but otherwise financial procedures are handled in the usual manner. To the
outside world there is no difference compared with the legal trade between
companies. However, the administrative route often differs from the route taken
by the goods. In a case of VAT and customs fraud involving chicken, for
example, the chickens were only transported through the EU to a buyer outside
the EU on paper. In reality the chickens were delivered illegally within the EU
using forged consignment notes, without having to pay import duty or taxes.
A general characteristic of the public purse method is that it always involves
unlawful claiming or non-payment of VAT, excise duty or other Customs levies.
In the results phase the criminal profits disappear in an untraceable manner.
Regardless of the type of fraud involved, the true origin and/or the true nature
of the goods is difficult to discover. The amounts involved are considerable; the
cases investigated often involved millions of euros of criminal profits per case.
VAT carousel, Customs and excise frauds involve (virtual) goods crossing borders.
Goods are transported to other countries via several (apparent) links in order
to conceal the true origin and/or the true nature of the goods. Legal entities
play an important role because they can set off VAT. Front companies often play
a role in smuggling in order to conceal the contraband. When the goods are
marketed (paper) companies are used to conceal the true origin of the goods
and therefore to ‘launder’ them.
The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) has observed a development whereby
chapter 3 – Fraud and money laundering
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