A group set up 64 'ghost' companies to illegally buy and sell invoices, evading 3,200 billion VND in taxes.

On July 16, Hoa Binh Provincial Police announced that they had prosecuted 16 defendants in a ring of illegal invoice trading and tax evasion with a total amount of money recorded on the invoices of more than 3,200 billion VND.

This is a new development when the Provincial Police Investigation Security Agency investigated the case of "Illegal trading of invoices and tax evasion" occurring in Hoa Binh, Thai Binh provinces and several other provinces and cities.

Of the 16 subjects prosecuted, the five ringleaders include: Le Thanh Phuc, Tuong Thanh Tri and Duong Trung Truc (all 25 years old); Nguyen Hoai Son (27 years old); Hong Minh Dat (29 years old), all residing in Chau Thanh district (Dong Thap province).

According to the investigation agency, the subjects took advantage of regulations on online business registration to avoid having to go directly to the management agencies to complete business establishment procedures. From there, the subjects used many people's identity cards or fake documents to register for business establishment.

Then, the group issued and used electronic invoices and State regulations on value added tax deduction to illegally buy and sell invoices and evade taxes.

To conceal his crimes, the subject used many spam phone numbers to contact and opened many bank accounts to conduct transactions.

In addition, the group also hired other people to open bank accounts to use for money transfers, making it difficult to verify and arrest the subjects.

From 2020 to September 2023, the subjects established 64 "ghost" companies to illegally issue 140,024 electronic invoices; of which 76,561 invoices were issued to nearly 9,000 organizations and individuals nationwide with a total amount of goods and services recorded on the invoices of more than 3,200 billion VND.

The case is under investigation and expansion.