The Ministry of Finance and ONIF are investigating the possible fraudulent origin of diesel fuel at 400 filling stations.

The National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF) and the Ministry of Finance would send up to 400 requests to service stations and fuel operators try to find out possible fraud during the sale on the part of a kind of “diesel mafia”. The investigation is trying to prove the possible sale of already refined diesel fuel from countries with export restrictions, such as Syria, Russia and Iran. According to information provided Chain creature.

According to the information, ONIF and the Treasury are trying to clarify the subsequent sale of this fuel to Spanish filling stations at a price significantly lower than legal diesel fuel, with a markup of 40-60 cents cheaper. The fraudulent operation that is being investigated will be based on the fact that “ghost operators” who will sell this fuel and sell it to gas stations will register and disappear after about three months. It is estimated that in many cases, gas stations were unaware of the possible fraudulent origin of the fuel they purchased and subsequently sold to consumers.

This possible scam could have started in 2022, when it accounted for barely 5% of fuel sold, according to the sector and the Tax Agency, although its market share has since risen and could cover 25%, it said.

These ghost operators may have committed fraud amounting to approximately €1.9 billion. The scams will cover VAT, possible biofuel fraud and efficiency fund fraud. In the first case, it is suspected that some of the operators who should have had a permit bought diesel, sold it and collected VAT, which they then did not pay to the treasury and subsequently disappeared. In this way, they would fraudulently pocket the 21% VAT that gas stations pay when purchasing fuel.

Biofuel fraud would be committed by failing to comply with the requirements required by law. Spanish petrol stations must contain a certain amount of biofuel per liter to reduce CO2 emissions. In this case, the diesel fuel sold will not include that proportion of biodiesel, making it more polluting.

Finally, according to this information, a third of the fraud will be associated with non-payment of the so-called “efficiency fund”. This is the amount that oil companies must pay for pollution and which would otherwise not be paid. So far, the Ministry of Finance has sent up to 400 requests to gas station owners asking for details about their VAT payment.