Two men have been remanded in custody until June 25th in connection with a large-scale fraud case involving the import of cars. The men, aged 30 and 37, appeared in a preliminary hearing at the Court in Hillerød on Wednesday.

The charges against them include facilitating tax and VAT evasion of over 27 million kroner and money laundering of nearly 200 million kroner. The arrests occurred on Tuesday.

According to the National Unit for Special Crime (NSK), the suspects allegedly used a complex network of companies to import cars from abroad without declaring VAT or by declaring incorrect VAT amounts. The scheme involved companies trading with each other to obscure the financial trail.

Authorities also suspect the men of utilizing “invoice factories” to launder the illicit proceeds. An invoice factory is a shell company that provides invoices for fictitious work, allowing companies to falsely legitimize financial transactions.

A third man, aged 29, was also implicated in the case but was released after questioning on Tuesday.