Criminal proceedings against event agency closed due to absence of crime 

Subject of complaint: Investigative Department for Financial Investigations of the General Directorate of the State Fiscal Service in Kyiv city (Tax Police) 
Complaint in brief: On September 14, 2018, an event agency specializing in organizing events in the B2B segment turned to the Council. The company complained about a groundlessly initiated criminal case. 
In September 2017, the tax authority audited the company’s activities and concluded the profit tax and VAT were underestimated for the total amount of UAH 18.5 mn. The company appealed the SFS’s decision in court. The County Administrative Court ruled in favour of the Complainant and the Appellate Court affirmed it. 
However, it did not stop the tax authority. The Tax Police initiated  criminal proceedings against the company under a “tax evasion” article. The Complainant repeatedly appealed to the Investigative Department of the Tax Police with a request to close the criminal case due to absence of a crime, but in vain. Therefore, the company filed a complaint with the Business Ombudsman Council.
Actions taken: After examining the circumstances of the case, the Council’s investigator considered the company’s position lawful. He sent letters to the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office (Prosecutor’s Office) and the Investigative Department for Financial Investigations of the General Directorate of the SFS and the Tax Police in support of the Complainant. However, the tax authorities replied there were no grounds for closing the criminal proceedings. 
 
Since there were none of the crime required elements, such as debt or agreed tax liabilities in the Complainant’s case the Council’s investigator applied to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) requesting to comprehensively and impartially consider the company’s complaint. He also recommended checking the effectiveness of the pre-trial investigation, as well as presence of violations in the state officials’ actions. 
Result achieved: After that the case got underway. The PGO handed the case over to the Prosecutor’s Office and the latter – to the Tax Police. With the Council’s involvement, on December 13 the criminal proceeding against the Complainant was closed due to absence of a crime. The case was successfully resolved.