Russia Launches Probe Into $13.31 Billion Fake Invoice Tax Scheme

Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case alleging an organized group ran a large-scale fake-invoice scheme that caused over one trillion rubles (~$13.31 billion) in losses by creating more than 4,000 shell companies since 2023 and selling fake invoices to nearly 40,000 organizations; investigators say the invoices contained false transaction details and were improperly included in taxpayers’ reporting, and the investigation is ongoing.