A 54-year-old entrepreneur is said to have tried to commit tax fraud for 3.5 million euros with at least four companies in Emmer-Compascuum. Of this amount, 380,000 euros was wrongly paid out to him, the public prosecutor said today.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the man filed false reports. Not only did he wrongly recover sales tax, he also submitted applications for corona support. “We have more than 50 files on Mr. Z. with us.”
According to the fraud coordinator of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), who was a witness in the courtroom in Zwolle today, the amount could amount to 6 million euros. A second lawsuit is still ongoing.
Entrepreneur Steve Z. bought second-hand clothing and shipped it to his native Nigeria. One of his companies, registered in a business complex in the Vitus Beringstraat in Emmen, is said to have an annual turnover of between 2 and 5 million dollars in Nigeria. The question is whether that figure is correct.
A total of three of the accountants he sold in a short time were heard as witnesses in the case. An accountant from Hoogeveen was approached by the entrepreneur in 2020, because the accountant from Emmen he had at the time apparently did not do what he wanted.
All accountants stated that Z. is responsible for the declarations to the Tax Authorities. Figures he provided were only checked if there were irregularities or ambiguities. The accountants did not have a so-called ‘audit assignment’.
One of the accountants saw that the entrepreneur was applying for corona support. He pointed out to Z. that he was not entitled to this. This was also confirmed by the RVO at the hearing. According to the fraud coordinator, three of the eleven applications were initially granted. That earned the entrepreneur approximately €100,000.
Further inspection revealed that the turnover figures, on the basis of which the amount of aid was calculated, did not match what was known to the Tax Authorities. The entrepreneur is said to have been involved in several unjustified government subsidy applications up to and including this year, the RVO fraud coordinator said.
The entrepreneur was before the judges on Thursday without a lawyer. His previous two lawyers resigned. He has now hired a new lawyer, but he did not have enough time to prepare the case. The court in Zwolle now wants to hear the criminal case substantively next spring.