Police split top counterfeit ring

By Yang Lifei  |   2008-10-17  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

POLICE in Liaoning Province have cracked an illegal invoice sales ring and confiscated more than 200 counterfeit official stamps as well as 380,000 fake invoices, making it the biggest case of its kind in the country, according to a Shenyang City-based newspaper.

The Shenyang Evening News said the scam was worth up to 24.8 billion yuan (US$3.5 billion) if all the counterfeits were used. The city's total tax revenue was 15.8 billion yuan last year.

More than 100 people believed to have purchased the counterfeits have been questioned by Shenyang police.

Investigators said they became suspicious of chief suspect Li Sulan, 43, in mid July when they were tipped off during a fake certificate case. She allegedly bought many fake official stamps covering various industries, the report said.

Officers found the unemployed woman changed her residence three times during the next two months. They said they caught Li at her home where she confessed.

An hour later, five other alleged members of the ring were seized including a driver, a sale inspector and three wholesale workers, the report said. Police also detained Zhang Shuping, allegedly in charge of a storehouse for the counterfeit invoices, on September 8.

Police said they seized thousands of fake invoices, covering almost every city in the province and industries such as commerce, advertising, catering, construction and real estate, the report said.

Police also discovered an account book which indicated that the ring had sold 2,060 counterfeit invoices within 10 days, the newspaper said.