Authorities from 15 countries have dismantled a large criminal group defrauding victims across Europe and beyond by selling fake supplements and medicines for serious illnesses, EU agency Eurojust announced.
The joint operation on May 12 resulted in the collection of important evidence, the detention of some of the main members of the group and the seizure of large supplies of supplements. It is suspected that the group generated at least €240 million in transactions.
Authorities searched 113 locations in Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Republic of Moldova. Evidence was requested to companies in eight countries and 23 witnesses were interviewed so far.
In Greece, a raid was carried out at a logistics company in the Attica region. In Poland, assets worth €1.8 million was frozen.
From 2019, the group set up companies through which they marketed supplements that were not authorized for sale, selling over 400 differently named supplements. A network of virtual sellers built hundreds of websites and social media pages, often using the names and images of famous people and fake doctors to mislead victims from across the European Union and beyond.
