24-05-2025
Key suspect arrested for creating bogus invoice worth hundreds of crores of rupees
Visakhapatnam: In a significant breakthrough, officers of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), Visakhapatnam zonal unit, arrested an individual, who allegedly generated bogus invoices worth Rs 643.81 crore, responsible for a massive Goods and Services Tax (GST) input tax credit fraud, leading to a loss of Rs 115.88 crore to the government exchequer. The accused is believed to have masterminded a complex scheme involving creation of shell entities, companies using stolen identities of unsuspecting individuals, operating his network in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
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 accused created more than 302 firms with the stolen identities, allowed the receiving firms of these invoices to evade tax payments and divert substantial sums of money by defrauding the public exchequer.
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 false invoices and claiming unearned tax credits. Following search operations in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the authorities arrested the accused and the key suspect, Aboobakr Siddique Syed, in Bengaluru, under section 69 of CGST Act-2017. After taking a transit remand, the accused, native of Pernambut, Vellore, was brought to Visakhapatnam and produced before the Special Judge Economic Offences Court, Visakhapatnam. The court has remanded the person to judicial custody for 14 days. Further investigation is under progress.
