How the criminal scheme worked
The general director of a Bryansk LLC has studied Russian customs and tax legislation to the finest detail over many years of doing business, and at some point decided to put this knowledge into practice. However, not in a completely legal way, writes “MIA Media”.
The criminal scheme devised by the merchant looked as follows. Wholesale suppliers of fruit from the Republic of Moldova to import products into the territory of the Russian Federation use the services of customs brokers, who receive appropriate remuneration for their work. The limited liability company headed by our defendant acted as such an intermediary. The firm, as well as another company under its control, offered to draw up the documents, thereby saving their colleagues from unnecessary expenses.
The importation of apples into Russia was organized at a knowingly low value. During customs clearance, inspectors adjusted the price of the produce to the average market price, and the newly-appointed “brokers” readily paid the difference. Especially since the money for the service came from the Moldovan side. As a result, after all the manipulations, the enterprising businessman and his “associates” were entitled to VAT refunds under Russian law.
In fact, the imported products were sold at market price in large wholesale and retail markets in various regions of the Russian Federation, including for cash. At the same time, the participants of the criminal group created fictitious documents allegedly on the sale of goods to various trading companies. In other words, the merchants had no real right to VAT refunds, and the state became the victim of their activities.
For more than two years, the fraudsters used this illegal method of making money, causing damage to the Russian budget in excess of 390 million rubles (82 million Moldovan lei).
Criminal Web
“The investigation of the criminal case lasted almost three years, its volume amounted to 87 volumes, – recalls the senior investigator for especially important cases of the Special Investigation Department of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Bryansk region, Captain of Justice Dmitry Dudchenko. – I would like to gratefully acknowledge the work of colleagues from other regions of Russia, who assisted us, because the web of the defendants has entangled 55 subjects of the country.
The management of the Department of Internal Affairs of Russia in Bryansk region created a specialized group to investigate the crime. An irrefutable evidence base was accumulated, appropriate investigative actions and measures were carried out: searches, inspections, seizures of a huge number of documents, data from cell phone billing data of the defendants and e-mail correspondence containing fictitious documents, including in Moldovan, for which an interpreter was engaged.
During the preliminary investigation, the property of the accused – apartments, land plots, cars and money – was seized. After collecting the evidence base, the materials were sent to court, which found the participants of the criminal group guilty of fraud committed on a large scale. The defendants were sentenced to four to nine years of imprisonment in a penal colony of general regime with a fine of Br250 thousand to Br900 thousand (from 52 thousand to 188 thousand lei).
There is no information about sanctions against the Moldovan partners of the Russian fraudsters.
