Bogus invoices ring gets busted

The Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) has caught 27 companies allegedly involved in cases, as well as criminal rings, of issuing and receiving bogus invoices, it was announced on Wednesday.

These businesses, involved in services as well as wholesale and retail trade, issued documents for virtual transactions that are part of the fraud chain. The recipient companies therefore presented inflated costs, thereby limiting their profitability and avoiding the payment of income tax and value-added tax (VAT).

The 27 cases concern a net value of issued and/or received tax data of over 218 million euros, while the corresponding VAT exceeds €48 million. They included a telecom equipment wholesale company in Athens that had issued 217 bogus invoices and received another 67, worth €52 million.