SPAIN - Spanish tax agency launches major raid against nightclubs

http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/07/08/inenglish/1467973995_010070.html


Spanish tax agency launches major raid against nightclubs

Space and Privilege in Ibiza are among scores of venues under scrutiny for suspected fraud
Madrid 8 JUL 2016 - 13:19 CEST

Tax authorities have raided scores of nightlife venues across Spain. The Spanish Tax Agency has launched a major raid against fraud at nightlife venues across Spain. The move comes at the height of the summer season, with clubs in full swing. Officers have taken away large amounts of undeclared money and computer equipment. More than 500 tax inspectors and other law enforcement officers have already searched the premises of over 100 companies that run bars, pubs, nightclubs and other entertainment venues in 11 regions of Spain. The premises under investigation include the highly popular Privilege and Space clubs on the island of Ibiza, which can accommodate thousands of club-goers. The raid is part of a drive by Spanish tax authorities to crack down on fraud at nightlife venues in tourist-heavy areas. The Tax Agency has been intensifying its scrutiny of nightlife venues since 2012

Inspectors have detected many undeclared transactions, and the widespread use of software that allows users to keep a dual accounting system, with the money in the second account staying under the radar of tax authorities. The Tax Agency has been intensifying its scrutiny of nightlife venues since 2012. In recent years, agency employees have also been known to show up at well-known establishments that were consistently late with their payments, confiscating their cash boxes in the middle of the day

PAKISTAN :- Educational institution’s record seized in tax evasion case

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/93171-Educational-institutions-record-seized-in-tax-evasion-case


Educational institution’s record seized in tax evasion case
By Jawwad RizviJanuary 23, 2016

LAHORE: Directorate of Intelligence Inland Revenue (I&IR), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in a raid recovered, impounded and retained record of a known educational institution in an income tax evasion case. The income tax evasion by the educational institution, which has around 100 branches of schools, colleges and different entrance test preparation centres in different cities, has been identified through an intelligence work. The institution is run by four directors, who are real brothers, and one of them is a senior government officer in Audit and Accounts Group Civil Services of Pakistan. The FBR officials revealed that the directors were declaring accumulative income of around one million rupees only on yearly basis. On the other hand, the number of the campuses and fee structure of the institution deny the fact of their income statement deceleration. The raid was conducted by the region B of I&IR, Lahore headed by an additional director along with a deputy director and other team members. The sources said the raids were conducted on three undeclared premises of the institution in the tax documents. They said the I&IR team after through intelligence and cross-checking of the Income Tax and Wealth Tax returns filed by them identified evasion in the taxes.

The raid was conducted on the basis of the tax returns filed for the tax year 2010 to 2015, both inclusive.It was identified that the institution owners filed their wealth tax return for the tax year 2014 declared their assets over Rs 450 million. Interestingly this around Rs 450 million worth of amount they declared as the foreign remittance they received from abroad. They said it is surprising that a famous institution is earning nothing which it declared in income tax return filling and then suddenly in wealth statement declared huge assets and all this money they get in shape of foreign remittance. This is not the first time that foreign remittance channel is being used for money whitening. The FBR had many time raises this issue with the quarters concerned about misuse of the foreign remittance channel for money whitening, said a former FBR chairman. He said such cases should be dealt under anti-money laundering to create deterrence of law. Otherwise, people will continue use this channel for money whitening while the government will keep struggling to increase the revenue generation, he asserted.

SCOTLAND Police raid 36 taxi firms in tax evasion probe

http://stv.tv/news/west-central/1329457-police-raid-36-taxi-firms-across-scotland-in-probe-into-tax-evasion/

Raids were carried out on 36 taxi firms across Scotland as part of a major probe into tax evasion. A taskforce of officers from HMRC and Police Scotland carried out the raids on Wednesday morning across the country. They targeted business premises in greater Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife, Aberdeen and the Scottish Borders and uplifted business records for examination. Michael Connolly, HMRC’s taskforce coordinator in Scotland, said: "Tax evasion is a crime that costs society dearly. "While over 90% of people play by the rules and pay their dues, our taskforces target areas where we see a risk that people won’t pay what they owe. "By working with our partners in Police Scotland we will continue to target anyone evading tax. "The public’s help in fighting tax crime is vital, and it can be reported to us on 0800 788 887."

Detective Inspector Stevie Russell, specialist crime division said: "Police Scotland welcomes the opportunity to support HMRC in their investigation into suspected tax evasion by taxi operators and drivers. "This operation is another demonstration of the multi-agency approach to tackle aspects of serious and organised crime in Scotland. "Enquiries are ongoing and any evidence of tax evasion can be taken forward either civilly or criminally through the courts."

Canadian Maple Bank offices searched in German tax evasion and money laundering probe

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/maple-bank-offices-searched-in-german-tax-evasion-and-money-laundering-probe-1.3243954

Maple Bank offices searched in German tax evasion and money laundering probe

Maple Bank is based in Frankfurt but is part of Toronto-based Maple Financial Group. German prosecutors searched offices and residences linked to Canadian lender Maple Bank this week in a probe of serious tax evasion and money laundering connected to dividend stripping, officials said on Friday. Nearly 300 investigators searched 30 premises in several German states on Wednesday in pursuit of evidence against 11 people thought to have illegally claimed more than 100 million euros ($149 million Canadian) in tax paid using a strategy known as dividend stripping or dividend arbitrage, Frankfurt prosecutors said.

The prosecutors did not name the bank involved, however Maple Bank confirmed the raids. The bank is based in Frankfurt, Germany, is part of Canada's Maple Financial Group. "Maple Bank has thoroughly supported the search operations and has assured the investigating authorities of its further cooperation," the bank said in a statement. "The bank does not comment in principle on questions of tax law and ongoing procedures," it said. Previous cases of dividend stripping in Germany have involved buying a stock just before losing rights to a dividend, then selling it, taking advantage of a now-closed legal loophole that allowed both buyer and seller to reclaim capital gains tax.Other banks, including HVB and HSH Nordbank, have also become involved in investigations into the dividend stripping strategy. The loophole that made the strategy possible was not closed until 2012. Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung said on Friday Maple Bank may be the largest of the cases, citing sources close to the investigation as saying the loss to tax authorities may total around 450 million euros ($671 million Cdn.)

Tel Aviv police raid brothel in massive tax evasion case

http://www.jpost.com/National-News/TA-police-raid-brothel-in-massive-tax-evasion-case

Tel Aviv police on wednesday morning raided what they called “one of the largest brothels” operating in the city, which they said brought in millions of shekels in dirty money.

Police said the raid was carried out by YASSAM special patrol officers, YAMAR special investigative unit detectives and officers from the Tax Authority’s Yahalom enforcement unit. The officers arrested four men that police said are suspected of committing wide-scale tax evasion, but no crimes involving the sex trade itself. By Wednesday afternoon, the four men were all released by the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court on the condition that they report for any further questioning with police. Yoav Kotler, head of the investigative branch of the Tel Aviv district police, said that the charges do not include any sort of human trafficking, adding that the women all willingly worked at the brothel “just like in 99 percent of the prostitution industry in Israel.” Kotler said the case is a financial one dealing with tax offenses. If the brothel was in fact one of the largest in Tel Aviv, it was hard to tell on Wednesday. The brothel was located in a small basement apartment on Wolfson Street in south Tel Aviv and employed five or six women per shift. It had previously been located at a building on Ben- Yehuda Street in Tel Aviv that is now the location of the 10- room Comfort Hotel, police added. The brothel was located in a four-story building crammed with illegally divided apartments rented out largely to African migrants. While the brothel remained closed Wednesday following the police raid, just two doors down a separate large brothel remained open, where inside two middle-aged prostitutes and a female employee said they had not been visited by police and had not heard of any sort of raid earlier in the day. Kotler said that police had not made a conscious effort not to raid that brothel, adding that investigators are still working in the field and will act elsewhere how they see fit.Prostitution in Israel is legal, but there have been several bills proposed in the Knesset that would criminalize the purchase of sexual services, though none have yet become law. Upstairs from the brothel, the owner of a small family-owned metal working shop said he didn’t see the raid take place, but that the night before, the whorehouse was packed with Palestinian customers he said came in to celebrate after the end of Ramadan.

Moti, the middle-aged owner of a paint store between the two brothels, issued a hearty defense of the two neighborhood whorehouses, saying “they didn’t cause any problems, Sudanese guys would go there and get relief instead of going out and raping, what now?” He also said that because of the whorehouse “there were always people here driving around or walking back and forth, people are less likely to rob you if there’s people everywhere.” A website for the whorehouse calls the establishment “Angels of Tel Aviv,” and features nude pictures of what it says are 33 different women available for NIS 250 each.

Romanian Police raid popular seaside clubs

http://www.romania-insider.com/romanian-police-check-popular-seaside-clubs/

Romanian Police raid popular seaside clubs

8 Aug 2016 by Irina Popescu

Last weekend was a busy one for the Romanian Police, as the officers raided several clubs and bars across the country, including some very popular clubs located in seaside resorts. The Police checked the commercial activities of 12 very popular seaside clubs on Saturday night. They discovered several irregularities, according to a statement from the Romanian Police.

Following these actions, the Police opened three criminal files – two for tax evasion and one for crimes related to drug trafficking, seized RON 108,000 (EUR 24,200), and issued five fines with a total value of RON 106,000 (EUR 23,700). According to Police sources, the actions targeted the most popular clubs at the Romanian seaside, namely Fratelli, Le GaGa, Loft, Kudos, Breeze, Oppa, Ego, Luv, Crazy Beach, Bio Bio, Tapo, and Castel, reports local Profit.ro. The Police didn’t mention which clubs were fined. Moreover, the Police checked several other clubs and bars across the country on August 5 and August 6. Within this action, the police officers carried out a total of 1,180 controls. They identified 394 criminal offenses, and held 26 people. Some 3,400 police officers participated in these actions.

Maharashtra Excise department busts multi-state liquor racket - INDIA

http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/excise-department-busts-multi-state-liquor-racket-2986188/

Maharashtra Excise department busts multi-state liquor racket

Written by Sandeep Ashar | Mumbai | Published:August 20, 2016 3:01 am

They used a gas tanker to evade detection and put off officials from inspecting it in depth due to the inflammable nature of liquid ammonia.

The Maharashtra Excise Department has stumbled upon a multi-state liquor smuggling racket where a gas tanker was being used to smuggle out spirit from Maharashtra. Acting on a tip-off, officials of the state excise flying squad caught the tanker on the Hyderabad -Pune Highway. Instead of liquid ammonia it was supposed to carry, the vehicle was found to contain 20,000 litres of spirit.

Sunil Chavan, Director, Enforcement and Vigilance, Maharashtra Excise, said, “The spirit was intended for manufacture of illicit India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL). The spirit was filled up from a distillery in Solapur and was Goa-bound.”

The use of gas tanker was to evade detection and put off officials from inspecting it in depth due to the inflammable nature of liquid ammonia, Chavan said. Such tankers are modified internally to store spirit. While the total stash recovered during the raid on August 16 was Rs 25.06 lakh, Chavan said loss of revenue was deeper. The 20,000 litres of spirit, when mixed with water and essence, can make 35,000 litres of liquor. While two people have so far been arrested in the case, officials suspect the racket was massive and involved many more people. “Further investigations in this regard are on,” Chavan said.

In another breakthrough, another flying squad intercepted a container late evening on August 18, carrying 1900 cartons of duty-evaded IFML. The container, which was smuggling the liquor from Goa and was Rajasthan-bound, was seized near Panvel along the Mumbai-Goa National Highway. Royal Blue, a malt whiskey brand, was being smuggled, officials said. One person has so far been arrested. The excise officials estimated the evasion in this case to Rs 1.05 crore. While entering the state from Goa, the smugglers declared the container’s goods as being toothpaste. A team led by inspector Sunil Kanse and comprising constables Sandeep Patil, Pramila Patil,and a jawan Ganesh Zite conducted the raid. The excise enforcement division is of the opinion there was a common thread to the two raids.

While Maharashtra has adopted a policy of discouraging liquor consumption through high pricing, neighbouring states and union territories like Goa have liberal regimes, which fuels smuggling. Maharashtra is also seen as a transit point for smuggling liquor into dry states.