Rs.410 Crore Fake Billing Racket Busted In Bengaluru; Interstate GST Network Under Probe
The Commercial Taxes Department has uncovered a massive fake invoice racket involving tax evasion worth Rs.410 crore, arresting one key accused in Bengaluru as part of an ongoing investigation.
Officials said the accused, Tauqeer alias Mohammed (42), allegedly ran a network of shell companies across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to generate fake tax invoices without the actual movement of goods.
The racket is believed to have cheated contractors and traders while causing substantial losses to the government exchequer.
According to investigators, the fraud involved total tax evasion of Rs.410 crore, including Rs.102.5 crore claimed as fraudulent input tax credit under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.
The accused allegedly floated multiple fake firms using forged documents and bogus addresses.
Officials said fabricated rental and lease agreements were submitted to register shell entities as sole proprietorships and limited liability partnerships, enabling the network to obtain GST registrations. These firms were then used to issue invoices for non-existent transactions.
