Businessman Florian Walter, accused of tax evasion and money laundering, was taken to the Prahova Court on Sunday, for the reconfirmation of the warrant issued in May 2015. Judges decided to place him under arrest.
Walter had been brought to Romania on Saturday, under police escort, from the United Arab Emirates.
An international arrest warrant had been issued for Florian Walter on 19 May 2015. An all-points bulletin had been issued for him on 15 May 2015, after the court issued an arrest warrant on his name following police raids that took place on May 6. At the end of May, DIICOT Ploiesti prosecutors had arraigned 18 persons in a case concerning tax evasion and money laundering. Romprest, a company controlled by Florian Walter, was involved in the case. Prosecutors ordered the continuation of their probe against him in a separate case.
Florian Walter is suspected of establishing and coordinating a crime ring suspected of tax evasion and money laundering, financial operations in which Romprest Service company was involved alongside other companies, some of which are considered ghost-companies.
According to prosecutors, from 2012 to 2013, Romprest was allegedly involved in a chain of fictitious transactions whose role was either to lower the taxable basis or to benefit from illegal VAT reimbursements.
The damage caused to the state budget totals EUR 4.5 M, representing the profit tax and VAT, plus the RON 60,494,600 (the equivalent of EUR 14 M) laundered.
