Fraudsters target carbon exchanges

Jurnalul Naţionalsounds the alarm "on CO2 fraud." According to a statement from Europol (the European Police Office, which is headquartered in the Hague) quoted by the Bucharest daily, "over the last 18 months, the European carbon trading scheme has been the victim of an enormous fraud that has resulted in the loss of five billion euros in tax revenue," which should have been paid in several countries. Europol believes that in some jurisdictions, fraudulent transactions could account for up to 90% of emission credit sales. Using a technique known as "carousel fraud," criminals purchase carbon credits in countries where they do not need to pay VAT, and then sell them on domestic markets, pocketing any VAT generated in the process. JN reports that in the UK, "Nine people have already been arrested" for involvement in fraudulent transactions in the cap-and-trade scheme, which was introduced in 2005 within the framework of the EU's programme to combat climate change.