User:Wikiguille0/VAT fraud on carbon quotas

The VAT fraud on carbon quotas, sometimes improperly referred to as "carbon tax fraud" is a form of VAT fraud dealing with carbon emission trading instituted for the emissions trading system created in 2005 in Europe.

This fraud is considered to be the most important scam in french history.

From november 2008 to june 2009, the scam is estimated to have cost the french state 1.6 billion euros. In all of Europe. almost 6 billion euros disappeared in less than a year.

In France, multiple fraudsters embezzled up to hundreds of millions of euros each,. Many fled to Israel to avoid French law,.

Context
In October 2003, the European Union created, with its 2003/87/CE directive, a financial system based on the trading of carbon quotas in all of Europe. In 2004, the European Commission proposed that carbon should be included in VAT. The proposition was adopted by all major european countries.

After a test phase (2005-2007), the Caisse des Dépots launched in 2008 the new market in France via its subsidiary Bluenext.

Operating principle
Scammers used the same techniques as VAT fraud and applied them to the new emission trading scheme. Before this, VAt fraud only concerned physical products.

For example, to execute traditional VAT fraud, entire shipping container of jeans or compiters would be purchased then immediately sold all taxes included by businesses who would then disappear before the government could request VAT reimbursment. One of the issues with this technique is the logistical handling of goods as well as interactions with border control agencies.

On the other hand, financial carbon quotas are totally dematerialized. the VAT fraud on carbon quotas is done online through a computer trading on the "carbon stock market". Fraudsters at the head of fake businesses using placeholder names disappear quickly upon recieving VAT.

According to one of the fraudsters: "'I worked hard for my scams. This time, though, wasn't even work .'"

According to a previous Tracfin director : "'We used a financial market system on assets that weren't really assets. It's like if we allowed people to resell income tax certificates. It really paints a good picture of the issues with the over-financialization and over-marketization of economy. Also, emissions, especially at that time, were totally unverifiable. No one knew how to measure it properly. (...) We're facing a gas factory created by the greatest polytechnicians and we're getting fleeced by a bunch of scammers, some of which can't even write'"For 18 months, the same carbon quotas are traded from France to foreign countries, passing through fake businesses lead by people using placeholder names. VAT exempted quotas would be bought by those false foreign businesses and were then sold in France to another false business based in France, at a price which included the VAT. The funds are then reinvested in another operation, the 19.6% VAT therefore never beign paid back to the state. The embezzled money was place in a account in China, and was then laundered,.

Fraud and discovery
The first person to spot the flaw is possibly Gregory Zaoui, who generated massive income by creating dummy businesses trading certificates to recieve VAT reimbursment. The fraud is then shared around the Belleville neighbourhood. While the ministry of environment is claiming success, those familiar with VAT fraud see a new way make money.

To invest more - and further defraud the state - one needs a substantial amount of money. Hence, wealthy individuals such as Arnaud Mimran begin abusing the fraud. Some fraudsters like Cyril Astruc embezzled several hundred millions of euros by themselves.

French authorities later became aware of the flaw and its issues, and carbon quota trades were consequently totally exonerated from VAT in France starting in June 2009,.

1.6 to 1.8 billion euros were embezzled in France between 2008 and 2009, and an estimated 5 to 10 billion euros total went missing from members of the European Union before the quotas were exonerated, according to Europol,.

Condemned fraudsters

 * Claude Bauduin : Yannick Dacheville's straw man, is sentenced in late 2011 to three years in prison by a Frankfurt judge.
 * Cyril Astruc, a.k.a. Alex Khann : wi faisait l’objet de cinq mandats d’arrêt, notamment pour escroquerie à la TVA sur les quotas de carbone en France et en Belgique, corruption dans l’affaire Neyret, et trafic de stupéfiants . Il est incarcéré début 2014 pendant quinze mois à la prison de Fresnes (Val-de-Marne) . En 2019, Cyril Astruc est condamné à dix ans de prison et un million d'euros d'amende par la cour d'appel de Paris, qui a maintenu un mandat d'arrêt contre lui.
 * Fabrice Sakoun : condamné à cinq ans de prison lors du jugement du 11 janvier 2012 par le tribunal correctionnel de Paris, alors âgé de 38 ans.
 * Grégory Zaoui : un des tout premiers acteurs de la fraude sur le marché parisien, ami proche de Fabrice Sakoun . Incarcéré à la prison de la Santé à la suite de deux condamnations à huit et six ans de prison, il est libéré en 2020 sous bracelet électronique. En 2023, il est candidat à la députation dans la 9e circonscription des français établis à l'étranger (Afrique de l'ouest, Maghreb) , ,.
 * Michel Keslassy (réfugié en Israël) : condamné en juin 2013 à trois ans et demi de prison et 65,5 millions d’euros d'amende.
 * Stéphane Alzraa : mis en examen le 13 janvier 2012 pour fraude à la TVA sur les quotas de carbone . Condamné en 2014 à 30 mois de prison pour abus de biens sociaux.
 * Eddie Abittan : installé à Ra’ananna près de Tel-Aviv en Israël. Il a été condamné en septembre 2018 par contumace à six ans de prison et 2 millions d'euros d’amende pour escroquerie et blanchiment en bande organisée.