The ‘Silk Road’ case, one of the largest handled by the Belgian branch of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), is making progress, but not as quickly as expected.
The case, which has been placed under judicial investigation, revolves around the Chinese logistics company Easylog Solutions, based at Liège airport, which has since gone bankrupt in 2023.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office and federal police officers from the OECDFO suspect that the company and its directors have committed VAT fraud worth more than 303 million euros.
According to several sources close to the case, the company’s owner, Yan Songqing, was arrested at a French airport upon his arrival in Europe in August 2023. He was subsequently placed under judicial supervision on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued by the investigating judge in Dinant.
This man is well known in the logistics world in Europe. He is based in France and has represented his company at logistics fairs around the world. While police tried to arrest him during the wave of searches on March 28, 2023, the man was at an e-commerce fair in Manchester and was able to catch a plane from Europe.
The investigating judge has asked France for his extradition, but Songqing is contesting this. When contacted, the Belgian branch of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment.
The investigation is now focusing on the use of data from the mobile phones, laptops and computers seized in March 2023. This proves to be a particularly long and difficult task, given the enormous amount of data and the complexity of the subject. So far, no one has been charged in the case, although the investigating judge decided to release the four people arrested at the time.
On March 28, 2023, the Silk Road case led to major searches at Liège Airport and also in Zeebrugge, where large quantities of solar panels were seized before being sold across the European continent. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office suspects that there is a major fraud under CP-42 (“customs procedure”), which means that importers only have to pay VAT in the countries where the goods are sold, and therefore not in Belgium, where the goods are come country. In the case of Easylog, authorities believe that VAT was never paid, to the detriment of the European Union’s finances.
Easylog’s representatives formally deny the allegations and say they have nothing to do with VAT fraud, mainly because the company deals with logistics and not customs declarations. “Mr Yan was very surprised when he was arrested upon his return from holiday in France, although he was in constant contact with the Belgian authorities, in particular through his lawyers, to provide any useful information.
He strongly denies the accusations of fraud leveled against him, especially since the Belgian authorities refuse him access to the file and he does not know what he is accused of,” said Easylog Solution’s French lawyer, Raphaël Barazza. The lawyer describes the arrest warrant as “so inaccurate that we do not even understand what he is accused of, and it shows a serious lack of insight into the activities of the Easysent group, which has suffered significant damage”.
The company went bankrupt in June 2023, leaving its 49 employees out in the cold.
photos Staatsblad, YouTube – RV
