The Cyberabad Police has dismantled a sophisticated, inter-state goods and services tax fraud ring that successfully claimed and passed on input tax credit worth Rs 11.79 crore using a network of fictitious firms across eight states.
The large-scale operation used forged identities and manipulated government portals, causing a heavy financial loss to the exchequer.
The Economic Offences Wing of the Cyberabad Police registered the case on September 3 after uncovering a meticulously planned scheme. The fraudsters created ten fictitious GST-registered firms that existed only on paper, never having conducted any real business or physical movement of goods.
According to the police, the accused used these bogus entities to generate fake invoices and fabricate a false turnover totalling approximately Rs 53.73 crore. This fraudulent activity enabled them to illegally claim and transfer input tax credit amounting to Rs 11,79,76,284.
The mastermind Abdullah led the vast network spanning eight states, including Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Gujarat.
The key steps in their modus operandi involved creating forged documents, including altered Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, electricity bills and rental agreements.
These forged documents were used to procure SIM cards and complete OTP-based verification on the GST portal to obtain GST numbers for the non-existent firms.
They made fictitious transactions, generating bogus purchase and sales invoices to show fake turnover and claim income tax credit without any movement of goods.
There was e-waybill tampering, with the ring generating 405 fake e-waybills to support the deception, often using real vehicle numbers but tampering with the chassis details.
The entire scam involved 52 firms, pointing to the massive scale of the financial crime.
The Cyberabad Police successfully apprehended two key members of the fraud ring on November 12, including Sohil Muradali Lakhani, who has been identified as the organiser and financial handler hailing from Gujarat and residing in Hyderabad.
Mohd Akram Hasnuddin, a middleman responsible for couriering documents, and two technical experts - Syed Mujtaba Hussaini and Ayiti Raja Shekar - are on the run.
