‘Tiktokers’ linked to ‘Caribbean Funds’ arrested in attempt to expose international VAT fraud scheme

The activity was implemented in a total of 16 countries, including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. In connection with this case, 32 people were arrested in the Baltic States.

624 law enforcement officers in various countries, including Latvia, were involved in the operation AT Employees of the Department of Excise and Customs Police, Department of Internal Security, State Police and Bureau of Prevention and Combating of Corruption.

The State Police said that the international operation is related to the so-called “Admiral” search in 2022, which is considered the largest PVN fraud in the history of the European Union (EU) – losses are currently estimated at 2.9 billion euros. The EPPO was able to reveal the connection between individuals, companies and a criminal organization based in the Baltics in the “Admiral” case.

In general, popular electronic devices worth more than 1.48 billion euros were sold to direct customers in the EU through online trading places, causing significant losses in the budgets of several EU member states.

Latvijas Televīzija knows that two people were arrested in Latvia – Kaspars Kazanovskis and Valdis Spurkis.

Both are related to the group “Caribbean Foundations”, which in recent years has been publishing several video materials in which they brag about tax evasion and giving ” tips” on how to avoid the Internal Revenue Service.