Voronezh Businessman Suspected of 700 Million Ruble Tax Fraud

A criminal case has been opened against a local businessman in the Voronezh Region, according to the regional Investigative Committee (SK).

According to investigators, the entrepreneur, who owns a group of companies in the public catering sector, organized a scheme of «business fragmentation.» To do this, he formally registered employees of his companies and their relatives as individual entrepreneurs. This scheme allowed him to illegally apply preferential tax regimes and significantly understate mandatory payments to the budget from 2019 to 2021. As a result of these manipulations, the state budget, according to preliminary estimates, lost over 700 million rubles (approximately $7.8 million at current rates).

As part of the investigation, SK investigators together with officers of the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) conducted searches at the companies belonging to the group and at the suspect«s residence. Documents and items relevant to the case were seized.

During questioning, the entrepreneur did not admit his guilt and refused to compensate the damage caused to the state. To ensure compensation, the court, at the request of the investigation, seized the bank accounts of organizations linked to the suspect.