This is the result of a meticulous inspection that revealed the gigantic scale of the illegal practice.
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Millions of turnover under the microscope of customs officers
The operation was detected by Silesian uniformed officers who examined the accounting and transport operations of the suspected company.
“Employees and officers of the Silesian Customs and Tax Office in Katowice (ŚUCS) carried out an inspection of the entity based in the province. Silesian. ŚUCS showed that in the period from January 1 to June 23, 2023, the company sold 177 cars and one motorcycle outside the European Union“, the Chamber informs in a statement.
Customs and tax agents carefully traced the route taken by the luxury machines. Officially, they left the territory of the Community with a completely different destination address, but in fact, using the intermediary of Belarus, they quickly entered the Russian Federation.
There, luxury vehicles were registered without any problems by their new owners. Investigators estimated that the total market value of the cars and motorcycles exported in this way exceeded the astronomical amount of EUR 19 million.
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Maximum sentence for full consciousness
The tax office did not find any mitigating circumstances in the company's actions. The entrepreneur acted with premeditation, fully aware that he was breaking international law and supplying a market subject to restrictions.
“After conducting administrative proceedings, the Head of the Silesian Customs and Tax Office in Katowice issued a decision imposing a fine of PLN 20 million on the company. The office used the maximum penalty due to the scale of the practice and the entrepreneur's awareness that the goods ultimately reach a Russian customer,” KAS representatives add.
Representatives of the tax authorities specify that the Silesian businessman flagrantly violated the provisions of the Council Regulation (EU) of July 31, 2014. This document, systematically expanded after subsequent stages of Russian aggression, concerns restrictive measures in connection with Russia's actions destabilizing the situation in Ukraine.
EU law strictly prohibits the sale, delivery, transport or export of luxury goods to any natural or legal person in Russia. The case from Silesia is intended to be a clear warning to other companies seeking profits in the gray sanctions zone.
