At today's joint press conference at the General Tax Office, representative of Police and Tax Administration of the Republic of Slovenia presented a successfully concluded operation of tax inspection and criminal investigation of economic criminal offences in trading with motor vehicles and motorcycles.

With this operation, the police and Tax Administration of the Republic of Slovenia, have disclosed an organizer of tax evasion, taxable payer from Ljubljana, and cut one of the largest trading chains for new and used vehicles and motorcycles in Slovenia.

At the press conference were also present Head of the Criminal Police Section at the Ljubljana PD,  Branko Japelj and
Head of investigation and analytic division in Tax Inspection Section at the General Tax Office,  Uroš Novak

After a comprehensive and longer investigation, criminal investigators of the Criminal Police at the Ljubljana Police Directorate have filed a criminal complaint against six natural persons and four legal persons, reasonably suspected of having committed crimes  of evasion of financial obligations (Article 254 of Slovenian Penal Code), criminal association (Article 297 of Penal Code) and money laundering (Article 252 of Penal Code).

In  tax inspections carried out in 2007 and 2008, the tax authority established in several companies with head offices  in the vicinity of Ljubljana evasion (concealment) of tax obligations in the import of motor vehicles from other EU member states.

Head of the Criminal Police Section at the Ljubljana PD, Branko Japelj

Police officers carried out 11 house searches during which they confiscated a larger quantity of documentation  and computer data. In pre-trial investigation they established that operations of the suspected companies involved concerted practices in the sense of carousel fraud, where by means of two missing traders (shell companies) the vehicle company falsely showed paid tax obligations for imported motor vehicles sold in Slovenia. Thus, the suspected vehicle company acquired  in the period from May 2007 to August 2008 - hence in 16 months of operation - 4.5 million euro of illegal proceeds. They sold to natural and legal persons in Slovenia 900 motor vehicles and motorbicycles, for which according to the statements by the tax authorities they did not pay tax obligations.

The association, which committed these criminal offences, was led by a 33-year-old suspect from the vicinity of Ljubljana, who also performed the function of a director of one of the suspected companies and cooperated in these activities with six additional suspects, among them two were involved as directors in the shell companies - missing traders.

During the whole pre-trial investigation, intensive cooperation, in particular in the field of data exchange, took place between the police and tax authority, who dealt with the matter in accordance with their powers.  The findings of the tax authority have substantially contributed to the efficient investigation and successful conclusion of the matter in the pre-trial investigation.

This press conference is already a second opportunity in short time for presenting to the public successful and efficient cooperation between the tax administration and the police.

Tax Administration of the Republic of Slovenia preventively warns all prospective buyers of motor vehicles to possibility of irregularities and give the following advice to buyers of cars:

• Prior to deciding to buy a new or used motor vehicle from "newly emerged" vehicle traders, we advise you that you should by all means consult the registry of non-possessory lien and confiscated movable property at the Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for Public Legal Records and Services (AJPES). This registry may contain, in addition to tax administration decisions, also the records of third party rights. The Property Code (SPZ) provides that nobody can invoke that he did not know the data on the lien entered in the registry of non-possessory lien if the respective movable property has been entered in the said registry.

• The register of non-possessory lien and confiscated movable properties can be consulted free of charge and is accessible on the AJPES website. As identification number requested by the search engine on this website, the vehicle identification number (VIN), i.e. chassis number, shall be be entered.