Visakhapatnam: In a significant breakthrough, officers of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Visakhapatnam zonal unit, arrested an individual allegedly involved in generating bogus invoices worth Rs 230 crore leading to a massive Goods and Services Tax (GST) input tax credit fraud.
The fraud traced caused a loss of Rs 35 crore to the government exchequer. The accused is said to be responsible for a complex scheme involving creation of shell companies using stolen identities of unsuspecting individuals, operating his network in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka.
The accused created more than 80 firms with the stolen identities, allowed the receiving firms of these invoices to evade tax payments and divert sums of money by defrauding the public exchequer. The fraud was orchestrated by the accused to generate fraudulent input tax credit claims, which were subsequently passed on to other businesses by generating bogus invoices without underlying supply of goods or services, to illegally reduce GST liabilities.
The investigation led by the DGGI Visakhapatnam zonal unit, uncovered a network of fake businesses that existed only on paper. These companies did not conduct any legitimate business activities but were utilised as vehicles for issuing fake invoices and claiming unearned tax credits.
Following search operations in AP, TN and Karnataka, the authorities acted swiftly and arrested the accused and key mastermind, a native of Pernambut, Vellore, Mohammad Saheem V in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, under Section 69 of CGST Act, 2017. The accused was brought to Visakhapatnam through transit remand and produced before the Special Judge Economic Offences Court, Visakhapatnam. The court remanded the accused to judicial custody for 13 days. Further investigation in this case is under progress.
