Investigation

FCIS focuses on the disclosure and investigation of large-scale, sensitive and cross-border criminal acts adversely affecting the national financial system.

FCIS INVESTIGATES

• international and domestic criminal acts related with the fraud and avoidance of value added tax (VAT), excise duties, income tax and other taxes as well as fraudulent management of accounts;
• criminal acts related to the illegal receipt and use of the EU support funds;
• legalisation of the proceeds of crime (money laundering) and illicit enrichment;
• criminal acts in the field of swindling and misappropriation or squandering of property in such financial institutions as banks and credit unions and manipulating the prices (fraud) in the energy sector.

THE FCIS FOCUSES ON THE CHEMES OF TAX EVASION AND AVOIDANCE, OFFENCES IN THE SPHERE OF FINTECH

During 2021, FCIS officers successfully completed more than 150 pre-trial investigations, which were handed over to the courts. The damage revealed in these investigations amounts to almost 100 million euros. Almost half of this amount is the damage caused to the Lithuanian budget. In 2021, was clarified attempts to receive or received EU support funds, the amount reached 14,8 million euros.

The numbers show that the scale of the shadow in Lithuania is still large and covers many business sectors – real estate, construction, services, used car trade, etc. Various tax evasion schemes are being created, millions of revenues are not accounted for, and salaries are still actively paid not officially. In the pre-trial investigations completed last year, it was established that the amount of unpaid VAT to the state amounts to more than 21 million euros.

• Launched pre-trial investigations – 622;
• Finished pre-trial investigations – 187, from which investigated offences – 527;
• Damage disclosed in the course of investigations – almost 100 million EUR;
• The damage repaid to the state budget voluntarily – more than 2 million EUR;
• Temporary limitation of ownership rights in cases for the value of 120 million EUR;
• Received reports of cash transactions equal or over 15 thousand euros – 1 248 038;
• Received reports on suspicious transactions – 45709;
• According to the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing the amount of more than 65 million EUR was frozen in the accounts at the financial institutions;
• The information was analysed about the projects financed from the EU support funds, for which the amount of more than 458 million EUR had been assigned;
• The amount of the disclosed illegally received and attempted to receive EU financial support – 14,8 million EUR;
• The number of the effected economy financial operation analysis and the established specialist’s conclusions is 653.

IN 2021 THE FOLLOWING TENDENCIES PREVAILED     

• VAT, corporation tax and other tax evasion, whenever companies show in their accounts bogus transactions or transactions according to unrealistic accounting documents with the companies registered abroad, fictitious companies established in Lithuania or other persons;
• Carousel VAT fraud, using the so-called Missing Traders Intra Community (MTIC). The Perpetrators organise international “carousel” schemes involving legal entities from numerous foreign states;
• Offences committed on the international level related to excise goods (lubricating oil, diesel fuel);
• Evasion of corporation tax and withdrawal of money in cash, transferring funds to the accounts at foreign banks of foreign or offshore companies for (fake) transactions, which did not take place;
• Not showing in the accounting the transactions and all the received proceeds (concealing the real scope and turnover of operation) from trade in consumer goods;
• Avoidance to pay VAT to the budget of Lithuania using the chain of companies, forgery of documents and abuse of VAT margin scheme.

For more information on the FCIS investigations, please refer to http://www.fntt.lt