BENGALURU: As officials make new inroads into the massive
fake invoice scam, said to be one of the largest in the country, it is
now learnt that a tax consultant, Suhail, was behind the racket. Suhail,
a BCom graduate who was a tax consultant for about a decade, allegedly
had knowledge on the intricacies of the new taxation system.
Another major player in the case of generating fake invoices to the
tune of Rs 1,200 cr is said to be Basha, a scrap dealer. He was among
the channels through which the fake bill racket was executed. Officials
investigating the case suspect that many other firms might have used
this channel to defraud the government by not paying GST, according to
investigating officials.
Another accused in the case, identified as Hafizur, was working with Suhail at his tax consultancy.
While the accused have allegedly been running the scam for more than ten
months, sources in Bengaluru South GST Commissionerate told The New
Indian Express that the first red flag was raised around two months ago.
An officer of the department had found some discrepancies in the GST
returns filed by one of the fake firms floated by Suhail.
“After it was detected, it was a case of identifying other companies
which were involved in this racket. During the ten months, fake invoices
were generated using multiple fake companies to generate bills without
the actual movement of goods.
The level of routing the invoices and the complexity involved to execute it is staggering,” said sources.
By running the racket, both Suhail and Basha have allegedly made crores
in commission for the fake bills. The extent of the loot by the
culprits is currently being assessed.
The accused in the scam reportedly made use of a window set by the
Centre for registering new companies under the new GST regime.
Since hundreds of companies had to be registered during the same
period, Suhail and others used it to register multiple fake companies
and get GST numbers for the same. These companies, formed using fake
addresses in various localities of the city, were then used to generate
fake invoices for other firms and defraud the government.
The Department is currently tracking other firms which might be part of the racket, sources added.