Prosecutors have reached a plea agreement with three defendants in a criminal case involving an international value-added tax (VAT) fraud scheme, which has been approved by the Economic Affairs Court. As a result, the defendants have received prison sentences, probation supervision, and heavy fines, and they must also pay EUR 2.68 million in compensation, LETA learned from the court.
The defendants are Deivids Červinskis-Buss, Sandris Spurkis, and Valdis Spurkis, according to LETA’s information.
One of them was sentenced to one year in prison, a three-year ban on engaging in business activities, three years of probation supervision, a fine of slightly more than EUR 1 million, and partial confiscation of property, including watches, cash, and cryptocurrency.
Another defendant received four years of probation supervision, a three-year ban on business activities, and a fine of EUR 100,640.
The third defendant was sentenced to three years of probation supervision, a two-year ban on business activities, and a fine of EUR 50,320.
The defendants have already compensated other countries’ tax administrations for slightly more than EUR 1 million of the damages caused, but they still owe an additional EUR 2.68 million.
The ruling can be appealed to the Riga Regional Court.
The case against the three Latvians was separated from the Admiral 2.0 investigation, in which three individuals have been charged with tax evasion that caused damage of EUR 5 million to the state budgets of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. In addition, one of the defendants in Latvia has pleaded guilty to laundering more than EUR 1.4 million. One of the accused has been in custody since November 26, 2024.
According to the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), these are the first criminal proceedings before a Latvian court in which multiple EU member states are involved as victims. Specifically, the revenue authorities of Austria, Germany, and France have applied for victim status in the proceedings and are participating in the hearings.
As reported, the EPPO in Riga has filed an indictment against Kaspars Kazanovskis, the suspected ringleader of the criminal syndicate targeted by the Admiral 2.0 investigation. The investigation uncovered a large-scale VAT fraud scheme involving the trade of popular electronic goods and causing an estimated EUR 297 million in VAT losses.
The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the EU, responsible for investigating, prosecuting, and bringing to trial crimes against the EU’s financial interests.
Source: BNS
(Reproduction of BNS information in mass media and other websites without written consent of BNS is prohibited)
