Prosecutors refer tax evasion case involving two businessmen to Šiauliai court

The Šiauliai Regional Prosecutor’s Office has referred a criminal case to the Šiauliai Regional Court, accusing two individuals and a Šiauliai-based company of falsifying financial records, submitting false income and asset declarations, and forging documents, the General Prosecutor’s Office announced on Monday.

The scheme allegedly allowed one of the suspects, acting on behalf of the company, to evade over €400,000 in value-added tax payments to the state budget.

Preliminary investigation findings identify 58-year-old G. M., a Šiauliai resident currently living in Spain, as the alleged mastermind. As director of the Šiauliai-registered company, he is accused of orchestrating a criminal scheme involving the import and sale of vehicles from the US to the EU, document forgery, and fraudulent accounting.

From late 2018, G. M. allegedly used falsified documents to sell imported US vehicles in Lithuania while concealing the company’s true operations. Investigators claim he collaborated with 54-year-old D. S., a Vilnius resident and head of a separate Vilnius-registered firm, who knowingly allowed his company to serve as a front. In exchange for payment, D. S. provided access to his company’s credentials, seals, and signed documents containing false transaction details, despite no actual business activity taking place under his firm.

Between January 2019 and June 2021, the Vilnius-registered company’s accounting records were allegedly manipulated in this manner. D. S. has prior convictions for document forgery, asset misappropriation, and falsifying accounting records.

Asta Mickevičiūtė, the prosecuting attorney from the Šiauliai Regional Prosecutor’s Office, stated that the scheme involved multiple employees and associates of the Šiauliai company. False purchase-sale documents were prepared, signatures were forged, and fictitious transaction justifications were created to mask real vehicle sales and invent non-existent intercompany deals.

Investigators from the Šiauliai County Chief Police Commissariat’s Economic Crimes Unit, working with the Šiauliai Regional State Tax Inspectorate, determined that the Šiauliai company—operating through front entities—failed to declare over €1.6 million in revenue from vehicle sales and omitted 153 vehicle purchases worth more than €336,000 from its accounts.

The tax inspectorate has filed a civil claim in the criminal case, seeking €413,500 in compensation for damages inflicted on the state budget.