Major GST Fraud Exposed: Rs 593 Crore Racket Busted in Bengaluru

In a significant move against GST fraud, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence's Belagavi zonal unit has dismantled a substantial Rs 593 crore fake input tax credit racket allegedly conducted in Bengaluru.

This crackdown followed a thorough investigation of suspicious GST registrations, revealing a network orchestrated by Star Tax Consultant and led by Mohammad Saifullah. Officials discovered that this network facilitated bogus invoices to illegally claim input tax credits amounting to Rs 235 crore, using fraudulent GST registrations and shell entities with no genuine business activities.

Mohammad Saifullah, a registered GST practitioner, was identified as the operation's mastermind. Arrested on February 24 in Bengaluru, Saifullah reportedly orchestrated the issuance of fake invoices in exchange for commissions. He has been presented before various courts and is now in judicial custody, as the investigation seeks to identify further beneficiaries of the scam.