Bulgaria Investigating Luxury Car Owners For Tax Fraud And Money Laundering

Bulgaria’s government has announced plans to stop and investigate certain luxury vehicles on the country’s streets in a bid to crack down on tax fraud and money laundering.

France24 reports that the country’s chief prosecutor ordered checks of all 435 vehicles from Maybach, Bentley, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce and Ferrari that currently cruise the streets of the country.

“The aim of the checks is to determine the origin of the money for purchasing these vehicles and if it came as a result from tax fraud or money laundering,” chief prosecutor spokeswoman Rumyana Arnaudova told journalists.

It remains unclear why the government has singled out only those five luxury automakers, other than saying that “their price is extremely high.”

The checks won’t start and end at luxury automobiles, either. Additionally, Bulgarian authorities will investigate 245 residents who spent over $300,000 on an apartment or house in 2015 and 2016. Of these locals, most of the properties were purchased in the capital of Sofia, where the average price for a two-bedroom flat is under 100,000 euros.

“It is totally possible for these people to prove that their money is legal,” Arnaudova ccommented. Meanwhile, the average monthly salary in Bulgaria barely exceeds 500 euros…