Mega Bust: Unveiling Bengaluru's Rs 593 Crore GST Fraud Racket

The Belagavi zonal unit of DGGI has uncovered a GST fraud racket worth about Rs 593 crore, linked to Star Tax Consultant in Bengaluru. Mohammad Saifullah, identified as the mastermind, orchestrated the issuance of fake invoices to wrongfully claim input tax credit. He was arrested and investigations continue.

In a significant crackdown on GST fraud, authorities in the Belagavi zonal unit of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence have dismantled a false input tax credit racket valued at approximately Rs 593 crore. This operation involved searches at locations associated with Star Tax Consultant in Bengaluru.

The investigation revealed an elaborate network dedicated to issuing counterfeit invoices without real transactions, facilitating fraudulent input tax credit allocations of nearly Rs 235 crore. Numerous GST registrations were manipulated to create fake invoices, with shell entities deployed to record and oversee transactions without genuine business activities.

The mastermind, Mohammad Saifullah, a registered GST practitioner, managed several non-existent GSTINs and manipulated the issuance of fictitious invoices for a commission. He was apprehended on February 24 in Bengaluru and is currently in judicial custody, as the investigation proceeds to uncover additional beneficiaries and the full scope of the fraud.

(With inputs from agencies.)