European financial fraud investigations and prevention

In May 2024 Portugal’s central bank launched three consumer‑facing tools—beneficiary‑name confirmation, the SPIN instant‑payment service and a verification platform—that let customers see who will receive a transfer. By mid‑2025 the measures had blocked roughly €6.5 million in fraudulent transactions and cut spoof‑call fraud from 60 % to 16 % of cases. In June 2026 Portuguese police disclosed two large‑scale VAT fraud operations. Operation Admiral exposed what officials called the EU’s biggest VAT scheme, spanning nearly 9,000 shell companies in 30 countries and causing losses estimated at up to €2.9 billion. A second ring in Vila do Conde laundered about €88 million from sales to China, leading to dozens of arrests and the seizure of cash and luxury assets. Later that month the European Public Prosecutor’s Office opened criminal probes into two separate VAT fraud cases: an alleged scheme involving the EU‑backed clean‑energy fund InnoEnergy, and a carousel fraud in France that moved roughly €160 million through a network of shell companies and bank accounts. The investigations underscore a widening EU‑wide effort to detect, deter and prosecute financial fraud across payment systems and tax‑related transactions. In late June 2026 EPPO expanded the InnoEnergy probe, targeting its Dutch headquarters and Spanish subsidiary after a Swedish businessman alleged forced issuance of false invoices; independent audits also questioned the fund’s reported environmental impact. Simultaneously, a wave of raids in the Île‑de‑France region seized cash, a luxury car and documentary evidence, confronting a carousel scheme that used 26 shell companies and 80 bank accounts to evade about €13 million in VAT. In early July 2026 the Portuguese Public Prosecutor’s Office sought the conviction of businessman Mario Ferreira for qualified tax fraud.