Prosecutors send 909,000-euro budget fraud case to court

Prosecutors in Kaunas have sent a criminal case involving three individuals and two companies to court over alleged fraud and falsified accounting used to obtain more than 909,000 euros from the state budget, LRT reported, citing the Prosecutor General’s Office.

According to the case file submitted to the Kaunas District Court, A. V., acting with A. D. and I. B., organised fraudulent accounting for several related companies. Investigators believe the companies recorded fictitious transactions and prepared and used value-added tax invoices containing false information about purchases and sales of goods and services.

The alleged scheme was intended to artificially increase the companies’ refundable VAT amounts and recover money from the state budget. A. D. and I. B., who managed the companies’ accounting, allegedly entered false information into the accounts and submitted declarations to the State Tax Inspectorate showing incorrect VAT amounts.

Law enforcement authorities believe the companies obtained more than 909,000 euros from the state budget and sought to recover a further 921,000 euros.

Investigators also believe that the fraudulent accounting partly obscured the companies’ actual financial position, including their activities, assets, equity and liabilities. The State Tax Inspectorate has filed a civil claim seeking compensation of more than 909,000 euros.

The pre-trial investigation was organised and led by a prosecutor from the Kaunas Regional Prosecutor’s Office and carried out by officers from the Financial Crime Investigation Service.