EU Prosecutors Hit Criminal Network in Fuel Tax Scam

European prosecutors, led by the EPPO and supported by Italy’s Guardia di Finanza, seized a luxury resort, over 150 properties, and various assets as part of “Fuel Family,” a probe into a cross-border fuel VAT fraud scheme that used more than 40 shell companies to generate over €1B in fake invoices and caused about €260M in losses to Italy. The network allegedly laundered over €35M through entities in Hungary and Romania, with earlier raids in March 2024 targeting dozens of individuals and companies; judicial measures have since been issued against eight suspects. By evading taxes, the group resold fuel at artificially low prices, distorting market competition.