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Turkish prosecutors in İstanbul issued detention warrants for 43 people in an investigation into an alleged fake invoicing scheme that authorities say was used to cut corporate income tax bills and claim improper value-added tax (VAT) refunds.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said the suspects include a senior government-licensed tax auditor, 25 accountants, six suspected organizers and 11 company executives and partners tied to three companies named in the file.
Prosecutors said the group created companies and generated invoices for transactions that did not exist in 2020 and 2021, with a total invoice value of about 6.97 billion Turkish lira (around $773 million at the time) including VAT. They said the invoices were provided to other companies for a commission and were then booked in official ledgers as expenses in corporate income tax declarations.
The prosecutor’s office said the scheme caused about 69,552,840 Turkish lira in direct public losses through improper VAT refunds tied to the companies identified so far for 2020 and 2021.
Authorities also alleged that proceeds of crime and funds of unknown origin were circulated through the fake invoices to make them appear to come from legitimate commercial activity.
The prosecutor’s office said search and seizure orders were carried out on December 19, including seizures targeting assets linked to the suspects and the companies cited in the statement, and that the investigation is continuing.