Group Caught Manipulating Import Prices of 180,000 Bottles of Wine, Including Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Evading 2.4 Billion Won in Taxes

A group has been caught by customs authorities for evading over 2 billion won in taxes by falsely declaring the import prices of 180,000 bottles of imported wine to be lower than their actual values.

The Seoul Customs under the Korea Customs Service announced on the 26th that it has transferred three individuals from an online wine-selling business to the prosecution on charges of violating the Customs Act.

They are accused of importing 188,000 bottles of wine worth approximately 16.7 billion won over a four-year period starting in March 2022 under the name of a local corporation established in Germany, while falsely declaring the value to customs at about 116 billion won, which is roughly 70% of the actual price.

To bypass restrictions on online liquor sales in Korea, they established a subsidiary in Germany and had this subsidiary act as the exporter.

After purchasing wine locally, the German subsidiary issued false invoices stating amounts lower than the actual prices, and the headquarters of the online wine shopping mall used these to declare import prices at about 70% of the actual cost.

Customs authorities estimate that they evaded approximately 2.4 billion won by paying taxes such as customs duties and liquor taxes based on these underestimated import prices.

It was revealed that they sold the wine to domestic buyers at regular prices and collected funds matching those prices to cover customs and liquor taxes.

Among the wine they sold were ultra-high-end wines such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, with a single bottle reaching up to 12 million won.

Seoul Customs confirmed the discrepancies between the declared prices and actual transaction values by cross-checking and analyzing import declaration details and sales data, tracking four years of import records to verify the charges.

Additionally, to secure the evaded taxes, authorities placed preservative seizures on the suspects properties and bank accounts, including deposits.

Seoul Customs plans to collect a total of 4.1 billion won in taxes, including additional penalties.

Cho Jae-min, head of the Digital Trade Crime Investigation Division at Seoul Customs, stated, Manipulating import prices using overseas local corporations not only causes losses to the national treasury but is also a serious crime that simultaneously deceives consumers and honest tax-paying importers. We will respond strictly to acts of import price manipulation.

(File Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.