Six men jailed following €300million Carbon Permits VAT Scam, Germany - 22nd Dec 2011

Three Britons and three other men have been sent to jail for evading tax on EU carbon permits.

A judge in Germany said the defendants' €300million (£250million) conspiracy had undermined efforts to tackle climate change and 'brought the scheme into disrepute'.

They have been handed jail terms of up to eight years each for their role in the attempted VAT scam between August 2009 and April 2010.

Around that time, the EU's carbon market was hit by so-called carousel trade in which buyers imported emissions permits without paying VAT and then sold them to each other, adding tax to the price and pocketing the difference.

'The convicted were fraudulently involved in tax-evading trades,' said judge Martin Bach.

'They have brought the carbon market trading scheme into disrepute.' Read More