Officials from the State Criminal Police Office of Saxony, collaborating with the Leipzig Tax Investigation Office and other authorities, searched 52 locations across eight federal states on Wednesday, according to announcements from the public prosecutors’ offices in Leipzig and Chemnitz. These actions are related to investigations concerning tax evasion and commercial pawnbroking involving pallets.
The Leipzig public prosecutor’s office is focusing on five Syrian suspects from Leipzig, who are accused of providing incomplete or incorrect information to tax authorities through various companies in Saxony and other federal states. The estimated tax loss resulting from this is approximately 1.7 million euros.
Separately, the Chemnitz public prosecutor’s office is investigating a 29-year-old Syrian suspect from Leipzig for commercial pawnbroking. He is alleged to have purchased and sold pledged goods at his pallet yards in Saxony, Brandenburg, and Saxony-Anhalt, despite knowing that these items originated from criminal activities. The damage attributed to this activity exceeds 500,000 euros. During the course of these measures, an arrest warrant was executed, and a seizure order valued at around 500,000 euros was realized.
The operations primarily took place in the Dresden, Leipzig, East Saxony, and Ore Mountains areas. Additionally, nine locations 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. In total, more than 300 officers were deployed.
