10 Americans convicted by
German
courts for role in illegal gas coupon ring
By Eric B. Pilgrim, Stars and Stripes
FRANKFURT,
Germany — German authorities have convicted 10 Americans for their part in a ring
that illegally bought and sold AAFES fuel coupons.
All 10 are
either former military members or were working for the U.S. government at the time of
their arrests, according to German officials. Authorities said they used their ID card
privileges to illegally purchase large stacks of tax-free coupons at Army and Air Force
Exchange Service centers in the Rhein-Main area.
"They
used false vehicle registrations and false ID cards, and they were moving from location to
location at several AAFES offices in the Rhein Main area buying up coupon books,"
said Klaus Westphal, a spokesman for the Customs Investigation Department in Frankfurt.
German
newspapers reported earlier this week that the German government lost about $15 million in
tax revenue since late 1997, when the coupon ring apparently began. German courts in
Frankfurt have prosecuted eight cases so far and delivered jail sentences totaling nine
years and $70,000 in fines, according to officials. However, nobody involved has served
time in jail so far.
The
investigation is continuing against other filling station operators suspected of
participating in the ring, German customs officials said Thursday.
Westphal
said the Americans exceeded the monthly limit of 400-liters when purchasing coupon books
by staggering when and where they purchased coupons.
"They
would sometimes buy 3,000 to 5,000 liters in one day this way," Westphal said.
A report
released by the Customs Investigation Department earlier in the week stated that the 10
Americans paid between 30 and 35 cents per liter for the coupons. They then sold them to
Esso filling station operators in the Rhein Main area for between 50 cents and 65 cents,
pocketing the difference.
The filling
station operators submitted the coupons to the Esso head office in Hamburg, which in turn
reimbursed the full daily price, about $1 per liter, although no gas ever made it into
automobile tanks.
Americans
affiliated with the Department of Defense are allowed to purchase tax-free gas coupons at
about one-half to one-third of the price posted on the gas pump. They can use the coupons
to pay for an equivalent number of liters of gas at Esso stations in Germany and in some
places in the Netherlands, according to a contract between Esso and the U.S. government.
Filling
station owners receive the difference between German gas prices and the coupon sales price
when they turn the coupons over to the head office in Hamburg. The head office then
submits the coupons to a customs office in Hamburg, which repays the full customs duty.
On Friday,
officials at U.S. Army Europe wouldn’t discuss who the 10 Americans were or where
they worked, but did say the military has dealt with them.
"...
[T]he employees that have been convicted have been fired," said Millie Waters, a
spokeswoman for USAREUR.
Officials
at AAFES said they are working on a solution to such scams by creating a gas coupon card
that would only have a maximum of 400 liters programmed on it each month.
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