Carrefour, Auchan Probed Over Alleged $1.8 Billion Italy Fraud

Carrefour SA’s and Auchan’s Italian units are among retailers under preliminary investigation in Italy for an alleged 1.8 billion-euro ($1.8 billion) tax fraud.

The office of the Milan prosecutor said in a statement Wednesday that 13 people are involved in the investigation, which allegedly exposes a “complex network of Italian foreign companies” that issued false invoices. The fraud led to more than 260 million euros of VAT evasion, which have now been seized from 15 companies as a precautionary measure, according to the statement.

Although no companies are mentioned in the prosecutor’s statement, Italian news agency Ansa and ...