Raid in the construction industry: millions of damage discovered through undeclared work!

Raid in the construction industry: millions of damage discovered through undeclared work!

On June 4, 2025, a raid was carried out in a large -scale raid in the construction industry in a large -scale deployment of the Berlin public prosecutor and the Dresden main customs office. The operation aimed at suspicion of undeclared work and included more than 40 searches in several federal states, including Berlin, Saxony, Brandenburg, Bremen and North Rhine-Westphalia. A total of around 300 customs officers were involved in the investigation, who targeted six main suspects between the ages of 25 and 52. These are said to have embezzled social security contributions and taxes in the millions, which led to an estimated damage of at least 3.5 million euros, report rbb24 .

The raid took place on Tuesday morning and included both the suspects as well as the addresses of alleged bogus companies and real companies. During the searches, 45 people were found without a valid residence permit. The ensured items were important documents, mobile phones, an illegal weapon with ammunition and two highly motorized vehicles. It was striking that no arrests were carried out during the raid, but an extensive company network has already been identified.

Frau and unjustified payments

According to the investigation, the accused have established a system that had the purpose of creating a black money cycle. This happened through the issuing of invoices for unmounted or declared services. Often workers were not registered for social security or only paid for black at all. These practices are part of a major problem that is plagued by the industry-the organized fraud in the construction industry and in building cleaning, as well as the Tagesspiegel reported.

The fight against undeclared work is a central task of financial control undeclared work (FKS), which initiated over 101,000 investigations due to criminal offenses in 2023 and stated a damage amount of approx. 615 million euros. The basics of this control are based on the Black Working Act (SchwarzarbG), which has been adapted to the current circumstances. Among other things, the Zöllner examine the fulfillment of social security reports by employers and the illegal relationship between social benefits, such as the Federal Ministry of Finance explained.

The raid is one of many measures that are taken to act against the increasing organized form of undeclared work. Especially in wage -intensive industries, the effects of such illegal employment relationships are devastating and representing a challenge for the entire economy.