Latvia's Gan Bei restaurant chain faces prosecution over alleged tax evasion

After a year of investigation, the tax evasion case of Latvia's Gan Bei restaurant chain has been sent for prosecution, the country's State Revenue Service reported on Monday.

In late 2014, law enforcement authorities raided a number of Gan Bei restaurants at several shopping malls in Riga, uncovering a tax evasion scheme that the chain's owners allegedly used to steal 700,000 to 800,000 euros (769,000 to 878,000 U.S. dollars) from cash registers, or 50 percent of the company's monthly turnover.

Financial police then detained seven members of an organized group that had been operating the fraudulent scheme.

Representatives of the tax authority admitted, however, that the Gan Bei case, which received widespread media coverage, had not deterred other food services providers from using similar schemes and tampering with cash registers to hide their income.

"There has been no change for the better," said Kaspars Cerneckis, the revenue service's deputy head for anti-crime activities.

He noted, though, that Gan Bei owners had admitted their guilt and started paying back the company's tax debts. By the end of this year, Gan Bei had repaid more than 100,000 euros to the state budget.

The Gan Bei Asian restaurant chain belongs to Lage Ko, which is also the owner of Thali restaurant and Neo restaurants, among others. Lage Ko and Lage Ltd, which owns Galleria D'Arte restaurant, share the same registered address. Endit