German, Belgian police raid gold dealers in tax case

German PoliceBerlin  - Police in Germany and Belgium raided 109 homes Wednesday in an inquiry into tax evasion connected to gold dealing and detained 24 persons, police and prosecutors said in Berlin.

They said the network was centred on Berlin and 120 kilos of gold was seized. The group allegedly evaded 4 million euros (6 million dollars) in value-added taxes from March 2007 onwards.

"We've got the suspects we wanted," said a police spokesman, adding that the racket had been closed down.

The scam was to buy bars of pure gold tax-free and blend it with copper and silver, which was then sold to gold smelters, who paid the tax to the vendors. Prosecutors say the tax was never passed on to tax authorities. (dpa)