Customs and the DGI analyzed exports of more than 100 companies carried out in the years 2020/2021 and detected at least 15 fictitious firms with US$ 51 million in exports -whose settlement period has expired- of which only US$3 million entered the country.
According to what was reported by Customs, through the operation, new exporters of broken corn, deactivated soybeans and mixed oils were detected, characterized by the exponential increase in exported values.
In this frame, pointed out that what caught the attention of these operations was the disproportionate relationship between exports and the economic and financial capacity of the companieswhich showed different points in common.
In this way, they explained in a statement that all companies showed a similar financial pattern, registering an exponential increase in their export volumes in a very short time.
In addition, they indicated that the position mostly used is that of Broken Corn (PA 1104.2300.0000), characterized by being outside the official price system.
Likewise, none of the operators analyzed has the financial or operational capacity commensurate with the volumes exported. In all cases, customs procedures fall to a single office of dispatchers.
On the other hand, they highlighted that a high percentage of the destinations are registered with the same customs of the Campana party, repeating the export circuit in almost all cases.
The amount of foreign exchange liquidated is systematically very low in relation to the amounts exported, in turn, the existence of a link between foreign buyers and exporters was verified in some cases.
After the analysis of the AFIP-DGI, Many of the companies analyzed are included in the Base of Apocryphal Signatures (APOC base), under the classification of unsolved credit facilities..
In this framework, the Customs-AFIP filed a complaint that is being investigated by the Federal Judge of Campana, Adrián González Charvay, who ordered more than eighty raids simultaneously throughout the country, in which cell phones, PCs, hard drives were seized. , documentation and two firearms (one without its relevant documentation). The Federal Police, in turn, collaborated in the raids and also worked on the investigation.
In this way, they detected the maneuver of 15 trout companies with US$51 million in exports -whose liquidation period has expired- of which only US$3 million entered the country, that is to say that 94% of what was exported did not was deposited in the Central Bank.
“Customs is responsible for ensuring that all exporters operate under equal conditions, avoiding irregular maneuvers that affect the reserves of the Central Bank. The dollars are for Argentine production and work, not for financial speculation,” said the general director of Customs, Guillermo Michel.
Regarding the more than 40 suspected companies, they reported that the DGI proceeded to suspend their CUITs, while Customs issued a report of suspicious money laundering operations before the FIU.
The Federal Court of Campana investigates the possible existence of an illicit association contemplated in Art. 210 of the Penal Code, and/or crimes typified in the Criminal Tax Regime (Law 27,430) and in the Criminal Exchange Regime (Law 19,359) and the money laundering commission of the Penal Code.
Preliminary investigations made it clear that the exporting companies would lack the solvency to face foreign trade operations, which shows that behind the entire formal structure there would be one or more hidden exporters, whose identity was not revealed by the apparent exporter.
In this sense, they indicated that there are “sufficient elements of conviction” to maintain that the real exporter -that is, the true owner of the merchandise- would have been replaced by fictitious or shell companies.
“This substitution, which appears evident based on the objective data obtained – economic inability to face the operations -, constitutes an action tending to prevent or, at least, hinder through ardent methods the adequate control of the Customs Service over the international traffic of merchandise. ”, they concluded.
More than 10,000 tons of grains in a feedlot in the province of Chaco
The Federal Administration of Public Revenues (AFIP) seized more than 10,000 tons of grains in a feedlot located in the town of Tres Isletas, Chaco, after detecting irregularities in the declaration of stocks used for fattening cattle.
During the operation, 6,200 tons of chopped corn and 3,900 of broken corn were confiscated, whose stock had not been duly reported to the authorities, the agency led by Carlos Castagneto said in an official statement.
The grains seized by the AFIP are equivalent to the cargo transported by 336 trucks and would feed 2,315 steers for an entire year.
Also, within the framework of inspection and control operations, the staff of the specialized areas in agricultural activity of the General Tax Directorate (DGI) and the local police participated, to determine the stocks of grain by-products found.
In this sense, after the documentary and registry comparison, the owner of the establishment could not justify the origin and holdings of the more than 10,000 tons destined for the consumption of the hacienda.
Therefore, the merchandise was interdicted while the AFIP inspectors initiated the corresponding summary proceedings due to the inconsistencies found.
