Grain fraud in Argentina: 23 arrested and 85 searches conducted in US$10 million scam
Federal courts dismantled an illicit scheme in the cereals trade with operations in six provinces, including Santiago del Estero. Twenty-three people were arrested and vehicles, equipment and cash were seized.
Federal court dismantles tax fraud network in grain trade with nationwide operations
Argentine federal courts conducted 85 simultaneous searches across various provinces of the country in a case involving alleged aggravated tax evasion and misappropriation of public funds linked to the cereals trade, according to elliberal.com.ar. The illicit scheme is believed to have caused damage of approximately 10 million US dollars to the national treasury.
Santiago del Estero was one of the focal points of the operation. Federal forces inspected properties in the capital city and in Sarmiento department in search of accounting documentation, registered assets and individuals implicated in the scheme. Searches also reached properties in Rosario and General López department (Santa Fe), the city of Córdoba, the town of Villaguay (Entre Ríos), Escobar district (Buenos Aires) and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
The mechanism: fictitious withholdings to claim VAT refunds
The case is being heard in the National Court for Economic Criminal Matters No. 2, presided over by judge Gustavo Darío Meirovich, with the participation of Secretariat No. 4 of Dr Damián Ignacio Mazzucco and the National Office for Economic Criminal Matters No. 7, under the direction of prosecutor Gabriela Ruíz Morales and secretary Diego Crespi.
The investigation began following an alert issued by the Revenue and Customs Control Agency (ARCA-DGI), which identified 59 taxpayers involved in irregular transactions in grain commercialisation. The Special Investigations Department of the Argentine Federal Police (PFA) carried out territorial surveillance operations, information cross-checks with open sources (OSINT) and tax analysis.
According to the investigation's conclusions, the suspects registered simulated agricultural sales to record false withholdings within the Withholding Control System (SICORE). This mechanism allowed them to illegally receive VAT refunds and reimbursements.
23 arrested and substantial seizure of assets
The procedures, coordinated by the National Ministry of Security and executed by the Federal Investigative Department (DFI), resulted in the arrest of 23 adult individuals, all of Argentine nationality. They were placed at the disposal of the courts and charged with alleged violations of Law No. 27.430 of the Tax Criminal Regime and provisions of the Penal Code.
In the various properties searched, authorities seized 10 vehicles, 55 mobile phones, 15 laptop computers, 13 desktop computers, three tablets, three netbooks, three external storage drives, two cases and extensive documentation.
Additionally, substantial amounts of cash in various currencies were seized: 15,433,100 Argentine pesos, 78,205 US dollars, 7,715 euros and 1,000 Chilean pesos.
The Federal Police reported that the Federal Crimes Report Division remains operational 24 hours a day to receive citizen reports in person at Moreno 1550 (CABA), by telephone at 4370-5876 or via email at [email protected].
Source: Google News CL — Santiago