In a major crackdown on tax fraud, a team of officers from the Central GST unit dismantled a fake GST invoice racket and arrested a tax consultant on Wednesday. The operation, which was based on specific intelligence, led to the arrest of Naqeeb Najeeb Mulla, a tax consultant, allegedly found to run a fake proprietary firm named as M/s Federal Logistics & Co.
Principal Commissioner of CGST, Dinesh Panagarkar, announced in a release that the team uncovered the generation of fake invoices worth ₹132 crore, involving fraudulent input tax credit ( ITC ) amounting to ₹23.82 crore.
Mulla has been charged with availing and passing on fraudulent ITC by issuing fake invoices without the actual supply of goods and services. He reportedly created a fake proprietary firm named Federal Logistics and Co. to manage the filing of returns and other GST-related issues for multiple firms, manipulating GST returns in the process.
Mulla’s method involved collecting cash payments from clients to discharge monthly GST liabilities, which he then used for personal gain, leading to embezzlement. He discharged GST liabilities using fake ITC through his own firm and other firms under his control.
During interrogation and upon confrontation with relevant records, Mulla admitted to syphoning off cash by forging or editing monthly GST returns. It was also found that he had violated certain provisions of the GST law in 2017.
The accused was presented before the JMFC II Court in Belagavi, where the Magistrate remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.
Stay tuned for more updates on this developing story.
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