East China police crackdown on 92 billion yuan false VAT case

Police in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, have busted a major fake VAT case involving false invoices of more than 92 billion yuan ($13.5 billion).

Nine suspects were arrested and another two released on bail in a joint operation involving local police and tax bureaus in four cities in Anhui and Guangdong provinces, according to Hefei police.

The suspects registered nearly 1,000 shell companies with different identification cards and issued 1.42 million false VAT invoices over nearly two years, said police.

Local tax authorities reported this to police in November, and preliminary investigations revealed that the group issued false invoices to more than 1,300 companies in Hefei, and more than 11,000 companies beyond.

Most were in Guangdong province, involving invoices worth more than 91 billion yuan.

The case is now subject to the judicial process, said police.