Fifty charged in Romania mass tax evasion probe

Fifty people suspected of having set up a vast tax evasion network that defrauded the Romanian state of tens of millions of euros were charged in Bucharest Monday, anti-graft prosecutors said. Fifty million euros ($69 million) were defrauded from the state. The charges come as Romanian government recently admitted that tax revenues in the 2013 budget were lower than expected.
Prosecutors said a network of more than a hundred Romanian and foreign firms dealing with meat products "set up a complex network" to avoid paying tax on profits or value added tax (VAT). State officials were complicit in the fraud, prosecutors said. Social democrat senator Nicolae Badalau was charged with influence peddling in the case and a top prosecutor arrested.
Romanian authorities have repeatedly pledged to crack down on tax evasion but investigations have shown frequent cases of complicity between tax inspectors and dodgers. Last year, the former head of the tax administration, Sorin Blejnar, was charged with "complicity in tax evasion".