Dresden. Officers from Saxony's State Criminal Police Office, working alongside Leipzig's tax investigation unit and other agencies, raided 52 properties across eight German states on Wednesday. The move was announced by prosecutors in Leipzig and Chemnitz, who said the operation was tied to investigations into tax evasion and commercial handling of stolen goods in the pallet trade.
Massive German raids target €1.7M tax fraud and stolen goods ring
The Leipzig prosecutor's office is focusing on five Syrian suspects from Leipzig, accused of submitting incomplete or false information to tax authorities through various companies in Saxony and other states. The alleged tax fraud amounts to approximately €1.7 million.
In a parallel investigation, Chemnitz prosecutors are targeting a 29-year-old Syrian man from Leipzig on suspicion of commercial handling of stolen goods. Authorities allege he purchased and sold deposit-controlled goods at his pallet yards in Saxony, Brandenburg, and Saxony-Anhalt, knowing they were obtained through criminal activity. The financial damage in this case exceeds €500,000. During Wednesday's operation, an arrest warrant was executed, and an asset seizure order worth around €500,000 was enforced.
The raids primarily took place in the Dresden, Leipzig, East Saxony, and Ore Mountains regions. Additionally, nine properties were searched in Saxony-Anhalt, four in Thuringia, three in Brandenburg, three in North Rhine-Westphalia, and one each in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and Hesse. More than 300 officers were deployed in the operation.
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