(VOVworld) - The EU’s anti-fraud office OLAF said on Wednesday that the UK owes the European Union 2 billion Euros after turning a blind eye to a major scam by Chinese importers.

OLAF accuses Britain of ignoring rampant use of fake invoices and customs claims by Chinese importers which cost nearly 2 billion Euros in lost customs duties to the EU. An investigation by OLAF showed that between 2013 and 2016, fraudsters evaded customs duties by using false invoices and inaccurate customs value declarations on imports into the UK. The office said that the scheme also cost other EU countries like France, Germany, Spain and Italy, 3.2 billion Euros in lost value-added-tax revenue. The European Commission will be in charge of collecting the debt from the UK.