Three people have been arrested on charges of selling forged value added tax (VAT) receipts used to defraud the Revenue Department of at least one billion baht through false claims, department director-general Prasong Poontaneat said on Friday.
He announced the apprehension of Chana Tangsiwilaiporn, 47, Preeyakorn Vejpanich, 42 and Phubet Klajing, 43, at a press conference.
He said the three are accused of forging VAT receipts worth 3-4 billion baht and selling them to at least 100 dummy companies, which then used them to claim VAT refunds from the department.
Revenue officials also found more than 10,000 unsold false receipts, which could have been used to cause even more damage to the department through false claims.
Mr Prasong said the charges relate to about one billion baht in false refunds. But it is believed the actual face value of the false VAT receipts printed and sold by the accused could be more than 10 billion baht because they had operated the scam for about two years.
The department has taken legal action against more than 1,000 companies trying to claim false VAT refunds over the past 10 years.
Sellers and buyers of fake VAT receipts face criminal charges with penalties of three months to seven years in prison and/or a fine of 2,000 baht to 200,000 baht. They also face having to repay double the false VAT claims, with additional fines.