EU prosecutors have launched an investigation into a €520 million VAT fraud involving several mafia groups, including Italy’s notorious Camorra and Cosa Nostra. The operation, named “Moby Dick,” led to 160 searches across multiple EU countries—Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Spain—as well as non-EU nations.
In Italy, authorities froze 129 bank accounts, seized 192 properties, and confiscated 44 luxury cars and boats. The suspects are accused of issuing fraudulent invoices worth over €1.3 billion through a “VAT Carousel fraud” scheme, in which companies claim reimbursements from tax authorities for fake transactions.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) estimates that VAT fraud costs Europe around €50 billion annually, funding not only financial crimes but also other illegal activities, including drug trafficking, which is valued at €30 billion a year in the EU.
As part of the investigation, prosecutors have frozen assets worth more than €520 million to compensate for the damage caused to the EU and national budgets. Kövesi emphasized that these crimes show that there is no division between violent criminals and white-collar criminals, both of whom pose serious threats to security and stability.
