VISAKHAPATNAM: Sleuths of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) on Friday apprehended a 35-year-old man in Vijayawada for setting up 21 fake companies in the Telugu states.
The accused, a resident of Hyderabad in Telangana, used these fake companies to create a complex network of fake input tax credit (ITC) generating entities at different levels, in a bid to undertake fraudulent transactions and thereby avoid detection. The DGGI did not reveal his identity.
These entities managed by the accused fabricated invoices to the value of approximately `262 crore, and passed inadmissible ITC of `25.5 crore to many functional companies, enabling them to fraudulently utilise the same and evade payment of taxes. The mastermind has been remanded to judicial custody.
DGGI Assistant Director General (Visakhapatnam zone) K Engineer in a press release said, the accused had been arrested in 2021 as well for his involvement in generating fake invoices to the tune of `265 crore and passing on fake ITC of `31 crore. Further investigation is on.
Vizag DGGI has busted over 200 fake ITC cases between 2018 and 2022, leading to the detection of tax evasion to the tune of `275 crore. The sleuths arrested 10 organised racketeers in bill-trading and also recovered `200 crore.