24 Arrested in Serbia for Alleged Tax Fraud and Money Laundering
Operation targets individuals accused of damaging the Serbian budget by over 76 million dinars.
In a coordinated operation involving the Serbian Tax Police Inspectorate, the Operational Department in Kragujevac, and the Criminal Police Administration's Anti-Corruption Department, 24 individuals were arrested or detained between March 29 and April 1, under the direction of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Kraljevo.
The detainees are suspected of committing tax fraud and money laundering, leading to purported damages to the Serbian state budget exceeding 76 million dinars.
Authorities allege that certain individuals, who served as de facto responsible persons for a business based in Kragujevac, conspired with officially accountable persons of the same entity from 2021 to 2023.
They are accused of executing tax fraud by falsifying accounting records, specifically through the issuance of false invoices for the alleged procurement of secondary raw materials valued at 318,648,155.87 dinars.
By improperly inflating operational expenses, they allegedly reduced the taxable income base for individual business activity tax, resulting in a reduced tax payment of 31,864,815.58 dinars.
Furthermore, they are suspected of avoiding payment of income tax amounting to 44,757,789.08 dinars by failing to submit annual income tax returns, which collectively caused a shortfall of 76,622,604.66 dinars in the public budget.
Additional allegations indicate that three other individuals from the same group aided in these crimes by establishing and effectively controlling multiple entrepreneurial businesses, which issued false invoices later recorded in the accounting records of the primary accused.
The operation reportedly involved the commission of money laundering, whereby, following payments made against these fictitious invoices, the funds totaling 318,648,155 dinars were withdrawn from the accounts of the entrepreneurial entities.
The cash was purportedly funneled back to the primary accused through intermediaries, with the knowledge that these funds originated from criminal activities.
As part of this operation, a total of 24 persons have been arrested or detained, with formal charges filed against three individuals through standard procedural channels.
The detainees are suspected of committing tax fraud and money laundering, leading to purported damages to the Serbian state budget exceeding 76 million dinars.
Authorities allege that certain individuals, who served as de facto responsible persons for a business based in Kragujevac, conspired with officially accountable persons of the same entity from 2021 to 2023.
They are accused of executing tax fraud by falsifying accounting records, specifically through the issuance of false invoices for the alleged procurement of secondary raw materials valued at 318,648,155.87 dinars.
By improperly inflating operational expenses, they allegedly reduced the taxable income base for individual business activity tax, resulting in a reduced tax payment of 31,864,815.58 dinars.
Furthermore, they are suspected of avoiding payment of income tax amounting to 44,757,789.08 dinars by failing to submit annual income tax returns, which collectively caused a shortfall of 76,622,604.66 dinars in the public budget.
Additional allegations indicate that three other individuals from the same group aided in these crimes by establishing and effectively controlling multiple entrepreneurial businesses, which issued false invoices later recorded in the accounting records of the primary accused.
The operation reportedly involved the commission of money laundering, whereby, following payments made against these fictitious invoices, the funds totaling 318,648,155 dinars were withdrawn from the accounts of the entrepreneurial entities.
The cash was purportedly funneled back to the primary accused through intermediaries, with the knowledge that these funds originated from criminal activities.
As part of this operation, a total of 24 persons have been arrested or detained, with formal charges filed against three individuals through standard procedural channels.
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