Two Spanish companies and their managers have been charged with allegedly evading anti-dumping duties when importing steel sheet from China into the EU between 2017 and 2018.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Madrid is seeking a prison sentence of more than eight years and fines of over €25 million in an indictment filed on 17 September, Kallanish notes. The names of the charged firms and five executives have not been disclosed.
“The imported steel sheets, being finished products, are subject to the payment of the extra customs duties introduced by the EU’s 2019 new anti-dumping regulation,” EPPO explains. “However, the defendants declared the imported material as slabs, which are intermediate or semi-finished iron or steel products with a lower level of processing and rolling than sheets. By doing so, they misled the customs authorities and evaded the payment of the corresponding duties.”
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the damage caused to the EU as a result of the tax evasion is €9.93 million ($11.1m). To ensure the defendants can meet their financial liabilities, over 30 properties linked to them were seized as a precautionary measure.
The EPPO is the independent public prosecution office of the EU.
Todor Kirkov Bulgaria
