Rs 100 Crore GST Scam Busted: STF Nabs Mastermind Behind Nationwide Fake Invoice Racket

The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has arrested two key accused in connection with a massive GST evasion case that reportedly led to a revenue loss of more than Rs 100 crore to the government. The tax evasion was performed by generating fake invoices and e-way bills using shell companies.

On Saturday, the STF officials reached Pune from Lucknow; subsequently, on Sunday, they tracked down the mastermind. On the same day at around 8:15 AM, he was apprehended in Viman Nagar in Pune, Maharashtra. The accused has been recognised as Keshwani Abbas Hussain Ramzan Ali.

Investigation unearthed that the accused was a part of a large network, where fake firms were created using forged documents and issued fake invoices and e-way bills to businesses that existed in real life. Thereafter, these invoices and e-way bills were used by beneficiary firms to claim bogus ITC (Input Tax Credit) without performing any actual trade, which caused a significant loss to the government revenue. As per the officials, the accused also had access to login IDs, passwords, and OTPs of several firms, using which they manipulated filings and financial transactions.

Initial investigation uncovered that several firms involved in the present tax evasion were registered in states including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, and Karnataka. During the investigation, the STF confiscated two laptops, two mobile phones and a passport from the accused.