The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) announced a cross-border investigation, code-named ‘Javelin’, targeting a suspected organized criminal group involved in carousel VAT fraud linked to luxury car sales. The scheme is estimated to have caused losses of EUR 100 million and is believed to have been operating since at least 2016.

Results of the Investigation

On November 4, 2026, more than 900 tax and police officers carried out searches in Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Germany and Poland. Thirteen individuals were arrested in Germany and Austria.

Authorities executed seizing orders of EUR 26 million. They froze bank accounts and seized cash, crypto assets, several luxury watches, dozens of luxury vehicles, and a gun with ammunition. Two real estate properties were seized in Berlin, one of them containing a hostel, along with seven further properties in Croatia.

More than 50 suspects are under investigation. Among them, EPPO identified five suspected ringleaders and two tax advisors who allegedly orchestrated the scheme.

How the Scheme Allegedly Worked

According to investigators, various companies in Berlin acted as so-called missing traders. These companies allegedly collected VAT from buyers and then disappeared or ceased trading without paying it to the tax authorities. Intermediary companies, known as buffers, helped conceal the fraud, enabling the final purchaser in Germany to claim a VAT refund.

The arrangement relies on the VAT exemption that applies to cross-border supplies between EU countries. Goods move through a chain of companies in different member states, one of which never remits the VAT it has collected, while another further down the chain reclaims it.

All persons involved are presumed innocent until proven guilty by the competent courts of law.

Conclusion

Javelin is the fourth EPPO carousel investigation to be made public in recent months, after Operation Admiral, Moby Dick and Operation Hermes. Hermes involved mobile phones and electronics, Javelin involves cars, but the structure is the same one in each case: missing traders, buffer companies and refund claims against national treasuries. The difference here is the number of jurisdictions coordinating at once and the presence of two tax advisers among the suspects.