FIVE people have been arrested across Spain for defrauding the Tax Agency out of €300 million in VAT within the hydrocarbons sector.
It’s one of the largest VAT scams ever uncovered in the country.
The Tax Agency uncovered a ‘vast and complex’ structure made up of up to 38 companies designed to defraud them out of VAT and to transfer money abroad to try to prevent their traceability.
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Part of the funds obtained by the organization, which also had a wide network of front men and the collaboration of legal advisers for its criminal activity, was used to acquire companies to maintain the deception.
Authorities carried out 18 searches in 12 towns across seven provinces.
Seizures included a large number of properties, vehicles, boats, hundreds of bank accounts, crypto-assets, a significant volume of cash, works of art, luxury items and metals of a high economic value.
The operation called ‘Pamplinas Stars’ involved more than 160 Tax Agency officials.
One of the five people arrested has been identified as one of the gang leaders and has been jailed.
The group have been charged with crimes against the Public Treasury, being members of criminal organisation and money laundering.
Investigations started in mid-2024, when the Tax Agency came across a likely fraud fraud of a wholesale operator who started selling large quantities of hydrocarbons in late 2023.
At that time, a law change came into effect in January 2025, requiring companies registered in the Register of Hydrocarbon Extractors (REDEF) to submit monthly declarations and be part of the Immediate Supply of Information (SII) system.
The wholesaler did not follow the new rules and only submitted quarterly declarations annual reports of its clients and suppliers to the Tax Agency annually.
The operator grossly under declared VAT returns and used shell companies to launder money.
A second suspicious company was identified in October 2023 which in just two months, defrauded tax authorities out of €123 million.
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