During a routine control on a construction site in Styria, officials from the financial police were able to convince a tax fraudster on the run at the beginning of January. They became aware of a construction company working there, in which an entrepreneur condemned under financial criminal law was listed as a contractor for the contracts sent by the general contractor. Surprisingly, the man was personally present at the construction site.
The 56-year-old apparently tried to avoid tax and criminal obligations in Austria by pretending to change residence abroad. This tactics are not unusual for entrepreneurs who want to escape their levy, but thanks to the careful surveillance and cooperation between the financial police with colleagues from other special areas in the office for fighting fraud, the plan was successfully thwarted.
“Taxes and financial penalties are not negotiable and nobody can avoid their debts by changing residence abroad. This case could also be informed by the careful and attentive work of our financial police. Taxes and taxes also flow into important areas such as defense, education or schools and kindergartens,” said State Secretary Barbara Eibinger-Miedl.
The man had no valid report in the federal territory since 2020. His open fines from previous convictions of 20,000 euros had not yet been paid. As part of the interrogation, his actual residence was determined and the information obtained was forwarded to the colleagues responsible for the introduction of fines from finance offenses.
This immediately initiated a decision on the immediate criminal complaint, so that the state police Graz arrested on site after the interrogation. The entrepreneur was admitted to the Graz prison. The son of the imprisoned person immediately reported to the financial penalty of 20,000 euros in cash. The research on other outstanding taxes of around 115,000 euros are still ongoing.
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