European prosecutors (EPPO) have charged five suspects in a massive VAT fraud scheme dubbed “Goliath,” which allegedly cost EU and national governments over 188 million euros ($216.81 million). The defendants—three Danish citizens and two Turkish nationals living in Germany—are accused of running or taking part in a criminal organization focused on selling electronic goods. Two are also accused of using the Hawala system—an informal money transfer network—to launder illicit profits and encourage others to commit crimes.
The two main defendants—a Danish citizen arrested in Kenya in May 2024 and a Turkish national—were already convicted in March 2025 for related tax evasion cases. They are serving sentences in Germany of five years and nine months, and five years and two months, respectively.
Investigators said the two had previously been involved in a network behind the so-called “Swedish attack,” a VAT fraud scheme targeting Sweden between 2017 and 2021 that caused millions in tax losses. They later formed the Goliath criminal organization, which is accused of carrying out more than a hundred cases of aggravated VAT fraud across the EU from 2019 to 2023.
