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Police searching Eldorado offices in tax evasion case

The criminal case was opened in St. Petersburg

MOSCOW, May 15 (Itar-Tass) — Police are searching offices of the Eldorado household appliance retailer in Moscow within a tax evasion case, Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said. The criminal case was opened in St. Petersburg, over Telebalt's evading paying 537 million roubles of taxes.

The search at an Eldorado office located in Moscow is to check the economic relations between the Telebalt company and Eldorado through fictitious intermediary firms. It is conducted by SK investigators from St. Petersburg together with their Moscow colleagues.

According to the investigator, the Telebalt manufacturer supplied goods to the Eldorado network. To evade VAT and Profit Tax payments, fly-by-night firms DITEK, Alfa-Stil, ExpoResurs, VneshTorgTekhnika, Nika, TopSkit, Komintorg, InTrade, Koral Plyus and Elips Group were created to carry the main tax burden, the spokesman said. The Telebalt company is located in a special economic zone in Kaliningrad. It is a leader in the Russian market of electronics production and the largest company that assembles LCD televisions and produces DVD player and microwave ovens.

Eldorado is Russia’s largest household electric appliance retail network in Russia. It is among Europe's five top retailers of electronic equipment and household appliances and among the world's top ten such retailers. It has opened its stores in all Russian citizens with a population over 250,000-500,000.

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