Prosecutors are searching six homes and business headquarters in Bucharest, Râmnicu Vâlcea and Câmpina, to find information about alleged money laundering, fraud and tax evasion with oil and gas products. The estimated damage is around EUR 12 million. Ten people will be brought in for questioning after the searches, according to the Organized Crime and Terrorism service DIICOT.

The members of the group are being investigated for having used 20 companies and created fictitious business and financial rings in order not to pay taxes to the state for oil and gas product operations.

They were buying oil and gas from real suppliers, then changed the quality of the products on paper and billed them to the real beneficiaries via the companies they had set up, according to prosecutors.

They also bought oil and gas from companies under insolvency, in order to be exempt from paying VAT.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: DIICOT)